


Conspiracy Theory

by AshaCrone



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Breeding, Implied Mpreg, Implied/Referenced Abortion, M/M, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Shiro (Voltron), Why does Keith's dad hit all the hot bara points?, birth control tampering, dubcon, implied conspiracy, slight daddy kink
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2018-12-05 17:03:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 35,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11582409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshaCrone/pseuds/AshaCrone
Summary: Shiro thought he was doing a favor for the Garrison to get Keith's Dad to talk about his discipline issues.Shiro also thought he was on suppressants.Shiro thought wrong.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please enjoy this smut. Because Keith's Father is ridiculously hot even if we only see him for a few moments. And this fic is inspired by the lovely bara fanart I've seen of him. And I threw in ABO because of course I did.

Shiro hadn’t known what to expect when he went to visit Keith’s father, out in the desert.

Nothing really could have prepared him.

The man standing in front of him was an Alpha. Tall, solid, dressed in nothing but a form fitting pair of jeans that did _nothing_ to hide the thick bulge of his semi-erect cock and massive balls.

Shiro could barely pull his eyes up from it. Or from the way the Alpha’s nipples stuck out of the dense hair on his chest. Or the lovely trail of fur that lead down below his waistband.

“Can I help you?” the Alpha said sleepily, voice a soft, Southern drawl that made Shiro’s tongue stick to the roof of his mouth. 

Shiro fought to stay at attention, swallowing hard to moisten his dry mouth. 

“Hello, sir,” he stuttered, finally dropping his eyes to the man’s feet. “I’m- I’m Takashi Shirogane. I’m… I’m one of your son’s instructors at…” And he bit his lip, as a fan kicked on inside the shack behind the man and Shiro could _smell_ him. “At the Garrison.”

The scent was purely Alpha, mature, healthy and Shiro bit his lip to keep the whimper between his teeth. It made his pussy throb with heat, and a gush of slick flooded his briefs. 

“My name’s Jake,” he said, and frowned at Shiro. “You okay?” 

“I’m fine,” Shiro answered on reflex, even as heat rose up over his face. He could only hope that the heat from traveling through the desert had already left him flushed enough already-

“Come in. Take a load off,” the Alpha muttered, stepping back and walking to the tiny excuse for a sofa and pulling some of his clothes off. “With my boy living out at the Garrison I ain’t been taking care of the place the way I should. You look like you could use a drink.”

It took Shiro a moment to realize he had been asked a question; he had been too busy staring at the man’s muscled ass as it flexed under the jeans, at how his arms writhed and his giant hands were daintily picking folding some of his clothes. “YES,” he croaked, high and strangled and the Alpha turned, pursing his lips together.

“I got some tea-“ he started, before straightening his back and heading to a tiny fridge, opening it and pulling out a small pitcher and a couple of mismatched plastic tumblers off the top. He filled both and turned to Shiro, who was still standing at parade rest. “You wanna sit down? You can take off your coat- the air ain’t that much cooler in here.”

Shiro blinked, rapidly, made a small sound and tried to take off his uniform jacket. He really did. But his fingers didn’t want to see to move and-

“You’re looking a bit off-color, Mr. Shirogane,” Jake said, putting his cups down on the board-and-brick table and reaching up to help. 

“You can call me Shiro,” he managed to say, more gulp, as the buttons came undone. The heat, the _hot, musky,_ delicious smell that made him want to go to his knees and _worship-_

He could tell the moment that his own pheromones finally overwhelmed his scent diffuser he used this morning; Jake’s pupils blew out as he inhaled and he went still, hands coming to a stop on Shiro’s pecs, over Shiro’s tits, palms hot and squeezing.

“Shiro, honey, you got about two minutes to make it out the door,” he said, licking his lips as the muscles in his jaw worked. He pulled back, and Shiro found himself being manhandled, forcibly turned around and shoved to the exit. “You get into your car and go. I reckon you did _not_ come here with the intent to be knotted.”

Shiro took two shaky steps towards the door, knees wobbling as he reached for the door, grabbing the knob, opening it… and…

Rejection and disappointment flooded his chest and belly so hard that he felt tears prick his eyes. The voice screaming in the back of his head told him this was good. He needed to leave. He needed to get out of there.

The reason escaped him. 

(A small voice whispered that the next male to come along wouldn’t be so generous and give him the option to leave. That the next male, whoever it was, wouldn’t give him what he wanted.)

He looked over his shoulder. Jake hadn’t moved, still standing there, eyes closed tightly as he clenched his fists. 

Shiro closed the door, nostrils flaring as he breathed. 

Jake opened his eyes, which went huge when he saw Shiro still there. “You- come on, honey, get out of here. I’m about to go into fucking _rut_ and I’ll either have to kill myself or I’ll-“ his throat worked, and Shiro was mesmerized from the sweat dripping down it. 

Shiro turned towards the door, dropping his uniform jacket to the floor and bracing himself, legs spread and ass tilted up, arching his back in clear offering. 

He heard a low, soft growl behind him. “You look good enough to eat,” a voice breathed, hot and close and, oh god, teeth and lips down his neck. Those giant hands were back on his pecs, and squeezing, chuckling appreciatively at the give. “You’re so swollen up.” A sharp pinch had Shiro grinding backwards, into Jake’s crotch. He groaned, spreading his feet wider as Jake’s hands moved down from his pecs to his belly, just over his hipbones, between there and his navel-

Shiro hissed at the not-pain as he felt several somethings swell and snap, popping inside his abdomen. 

He nearly cried as Jake pressed his clothed dick into his ass. “So wet,” he said, cupping the soaked cloth covering Shiro’s slit. “You know how to flatter a guy.” He unbuckled Shiro’s belt, shucking his briefs and pants down to his knees. Shiro breathed hard, shaking his legs and stepping out of his shoes and pants at the same time.

His fingers traced Shiro’s slit, pressing two inside him. “This hurt?” he asked. When Shiro shook his head, Jake added a third.

Shiro groaned, making a move to turn- 

When Jake growled, wrapping his arms around Shiro and pressing him against the door, the thick head of his cock spreading Shiro’s inner lips wide as it split him open in one fast, brutal thrust.

It was everything he needed. 

Shiro grunted into the wood of the door, barely feeling the scrape of the weathered wood on his cheek as that empty feeling was gone, leaving him panting as the thrusts started in earnest. 

“You’re so pretty,” Jake hissed into his ear, nipping it, hips slamming into Shiro’s thighs, balls slapping his ass. Slick made every move sound wet, vulgar as he thrust into Shiro. “Can’t wait to knot you, sweetheart.” He brushed his lips over Shiro’s jaw, tilting his chin up to tongue his lips-

Kissing had a lot of functions- feeding a toothless infant, or simulating nerves- but it could also assess a mate for fitness and health. 

Shiro whined as he felt himself open up even more, and another large, startling pop jolted his belly. 

Jake _snarled_ , and Shiro thrust back, driving himself as far down as he could go, the tip of his cock hitting Shiro’s cervix in a mix of pain/pleasure that made Shiro yelp and come, pleasure shivering up from his cunt and up his spine, making his entire body clench in surprise. 

The soft _extra_ , the pressure that came when Jake did, made Shiro shiver as the big Alpha pulled out of him, hauling him off the door. 

Their next kiss was deeper, and Shiro felt his neck and shoulders and legs turn to jelly as he was half carried to the sofa. Jake sat down; his erection had not softened, still thick and proud and Shiro climbed into Jake’s lap, sinking down on it and sighing as it spread him open again.

This position allowed them to look at each other and… Shiro flushed, and not just from having Jake’s giant cock glide in and out of his snatch. He had his arms draped over Jake’s shoulders, chest to chest, Jake’s lips fluttering over his, his cheeks, his eyes and nose and… A quick brush over his short, fat cock had Shiro shuddering again, head thrown back as he moaned, leaving his neck open for Jake’s lips.

“…fuck you, fuck you full, can’t want to knot you and breed you up and give you all the babies a beautiful Omega like you deserves, round and pretty and…”

It was the heat talking, but the images of himself, sitting in Jake’s lap, or on his hands and knees, belly scraping the floor while Jake fucked pup after pup into him made bit his lip. “Yes,” he heard himself say, wrapping his legs around Jake’s waist. “Yes, god, please-“

He somehow found himself on his back, Jake hovering over him while he came. “You got any idea what you look like right now, Shiro?” he asked softly, and he reached down to take Shiro’s shirt off, pulling it over his head, and stealing a soft kiss. “You got this gorgeous- your face is all red, you got this flush, all the way down your chest-“ his hips hadn’t stopped moving, and Shiro could feel the base of his cock starting to swell with a knot. “Your tits are all big and soft,” and Jake leaned down, taking one in his teeth and Shiro groaned, wrapping his legs around Jake’s waist. “The pup’s never going to go hungry with you.”

Shiro moaned. “Yes. Oh please. I want them-“ Madness, his brain _knew_ it was madness but right now it made more sense than anything else in the world- “I want them and ohhh-“ the swell of the knot just popped past the rim of his pussy, stretching him and making his toes curl. “Please, Jake-“ the knot was almost formed, and Jake grinned ground down, forcing it inside and-

This orgasm made him scream as Jake held him, convulsing, eyes rolling up and toes curling, nearly blacking out as every muscle tried to fold up on itself at the feeling of finally, finally being stretched past his limits.

He couldn’t breathe as he sank his fingernails into Jake’s back, hearing him howl as he came, and came, and came, emptying his balls into Shiro’s ripe womb.

They locked together, and Shiro passed out.

~*~*~*~*~

Shiro woke, sometime later.

He was covered in a threadbare old crazy quilt, and there was one of those plastic tumblers of ice tea and a bottle of generic Tylenol in front of him.

He was still on Jake’s couch.

His head ached dully, so he took the proffered medicine.

“Feeling better, Shiro?” a voice called, and Shiro blinked. Memory flooded back as he realized he was naked as the day he was born under the quilt. (He was also very definitely Not Sticky. The idea of Jake wiping him down made him both blush and feel warm in a way that wasn’t just from the heat.)

“Hmm,” was all he could say as he tried to process what happened. Getting an order to visit Keith’s Dad, to try to get him to come visit the Garrison, and- “I was on suppressants,” he said quietly. Part of him wanted to panic, gibbering in horror over what this meant. 

The heat would go on until implantation. 

“How-?”

“I’m sorry, honey,” Jake said mournfully. “I haven’t taken hormone regulators in years- I don’t react well to ‘em and paying to find a better doctor just wasn’t happening. We got a break, right now.” He grimaced. “You can leave, if you want. Damage is done. Heat’s gonna last a few more days.”

Shiro grimaced. He went out there with nothing to mask the pheromones, still in heat, he was likely to be bent over by the next group of Alphas or beta males that came his way. Didn’t matter that he was already… 

“I need to call the Garrison while we’re still thinking clearly,” Shiro said, after a moment. His eyes drifted over to Jake, who was standing there in his birthday suit like Shiro, only without the benefit of a quilt.

That bearskin rug on Jake’s chest had felt just as good as it looked, especially against his own chest and back and cheeks. His cock was still at half mast, fat and twitching against his thigh. He turned to grab an old wall phone, and Shiro’s face burned at the claw marks on his back. 

This was fucked up. Jake Kogane was Keith’s father. 

But the thought of _leaving_ left Shiro’s belly in sick, twisted knots… while just the sight of him standing there was enough to make Shiro’s mouth dry, his pussy throb and slick pool and spill onto the couch. 

Shiro licked his lips. “May I stay here?”

Jake took a deep breath, putting the phone back. “You sure you want to do that? You leave soon, you’ll be back at the Garrison and respectable. You stay, well, it ends when you-“ He trailed off, and Shiro realized he was trying not to look directly at Shiro.

Shiro pushed the quilt down and paused. 

His chest was littered in love bites, especially over his tits, even if there were no tooth marks. The buds themselves were hard and tight, while the areoles were swollen and puffy and red. 

Shiro cupped the soft flesh and let it go. The Alpha in front of him groaned, taking a few steps forward.

Shiro let his hands trail down his chest to his belly, looking at the slight swell under his navel, arching his back. His legs fell open, almost despite themselves- he looked up-

Jake was already there, breathing ragged, eyes nearly black with lust.

“I’m sure,” Shiro said, spreading his legs wider and scooting back onto the couch as Jake’s body covered his. He felt the air fluttering in his lungs as Jake bent and spread his thighs, jaw dropping and whimpering as Jake’s thick erection opened him up again. “Oh god yes. Please. Fuck please, more!”

Jake smiled, rocking back, and gave it to him.

~*~*~*~*~

“You sure this was a good idea?” Sam Holt asked Iverson, sitting across from him in Iverson’s office. The tracker they had placed in the Jeep Shiro had used to go talk to Jake Kogane hadn’t moved in nearly three days, and showed no signs of tampering.

“Don’t worry, Kogane’s an excellent stud. We’ve seen him in action before,” Iverson said absently. “Mr. Shirogane is an Omega. He’ll thank us later.”

Sam turned away to hide his grimace. “Somehow I doubt that,” he murmured. 

“He’s the best pilot we have. But we need a reason for him not to go on the Kerberos mission that we didn’t create,” Iverson reminded him. 

Sam sighed. 

“I don’t like the idea of sending you or Matt, Sam,” Iverson reminded him. Sam nodded, grimacing. “But Shirogane has no idea what he signed up for and…”

“I don’t think this will work. He’s got years before the mission. He’s a survivor. I think he’ll still try to go,” Sam said. 

Iverson grunted and pinched the skin between his brows. “Yeah. That’s what I’m afraid of.”

The end.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... I should not be working on this but it wouldn't leave me alone. Have some semi-serious fallout with a little bit of smut flavoring.

Shiro heard someone shriek, and realized it was him.

Jake’s knot had just popped inside his cunt for the second time, forcing Shiro to come, squirting from his short cock and around Jake’s huge one as he convulsed. He muffled the howl in Jake’s shoulder, who let out a primal snarl that had Shiro shivering and clinging to the big Alpha.

“Sorry,” Jake mumbled, panting softly as he shifted his weight, making the knot move and Shiro whimper. “Crap.” Carefully he put his hands on Shiro’s ass, pulling him close as he shifted himself backwards onto the couch so Shiro could sprawl on top of him.

He was dimly aware of the old quilt being dragged on top of him. A few moments later, Jake was drawing lazy patterns on his shoulders and back with his fingers. “How you doing, honey?”

“Hmm.” He nuzzled Jake’s shoulder, straightening his legs as much as he could with a knot the size of a baseball in his vagina so they wouldn’t cramp. Jake moved his hands down to start massaging his thighs. “Can’t think.” His cunt felt raw and sore, most of his muscles were in the same boat; his brain was a fog of nothing right then. “I hurt like hell.” He went silent and crooned as Jake kept petting him. “It’s amazing.”

Jake snickered. “Sounds like you’ve never had a… wait.” He nearly sat up, but stopped when Shiro moaned. “You ever had a heat before?”

Shiro shook his head, shuddering as the knot inside him moved and turned him into a boneless heap.

Jake actually growled, and Shiro shivered again before Jake cuddled him, letting out a soft croon. “I’m sorry, Shiro. Got a little upset there.”

Shiro let out a noise between a groan and hum. “Can barely keep my eyes open.”

“Then sleep, honey. Gotta take the time to rest during a heat when you can,” Jake said. Shiro sighed. “I imagine you’re gonna have great big freak out when you realize you been fuckin’ some stranger, and that this is going to be one big ol’ pile of shit.” His hands were moving up to massage his ass and Shiro groaned, because his hands were big and rough and strong, and given how they turned Shiro’s sore muscle into water they were also likely magic. Had to be magic. 

“Don’t get it,” he muttered after a moment. It was hard to think when Jake had started to gently, gently finger his asshole, making him rock back and forth that and the thick knot filling him full. It was new and novel enough to give him a small orgasm just from that alone, distracting him from his train of thought. As he came down he glanced up, seeing Jake’s pleased, smug smile as he whimpered. 

“Don’t get what?”

Shiro fought to find his forebrain. His body hurt so good right then. “I take my pills,” he mumbled, tensing despite himself. Jake immediately started massaging his shoulders. “This morning, even. Set an alarm on my phone. How..?”

The lazy smirk on Jake’s face faded. Shiro had to squint; the sun was almost gone, and he had arrived mid-morning.

“Hm. Coulda been any number of things.” He absently blew at some of the hair stuck to his forehead. Most of it was plastered with sweat, so Shiro pushed it away. “Anything change lately? Did you shift recently or when you were a kid?”

If Shiro hadn’t still been on this guy’s knot, feeling his coming still occasionally spurt up inside him, he might have been embarrassed. “I… shifted late.” He felt his face flush. He had thought he was a beta until his second year at the Garrison, when he had awoken with a fever and stabbing pains in his gut. They’d put him on meds almost as soon as it had happened. “Last year I’ve been mostly taking training or teaching,” he said. 

Jake made a soft, growling sound in the back of his throat. “So, any other changes? Still taking the same suppressants?”

Shiro nodded, then frowned, seeing where this was going. “A few months ago I changed doctors and the Garrison insurance changed. So I had to buy them somewhere else.”

Jake kissed Shiro, and for a moment Shiro was swamped with sensation again: warm, firm lips, big hands stroking up and down his sides, his belly inflated, just a bit, from the sheer amount of come inside him. (A small voice, slightly panicking, told him that there was going to a pup in there. Or pups. Jake’s pups)

Shiro pulled back, and Jake let him.

“Knot’s starting to go down,” he said. “They’ll be shorter from here on out.” Shiro sagged in relief. He let himself drop into a doze against Jake until he felt his softened cock slip out, and made a small noise at the gush of fluids that followed. 

“We probably got a few hours this time,” Jake said, and helped Shiro sit up, who hissed the whole time. “Want to sleep or eat first?”

“...toilet…”

Jake nodded, and he helped Shiro to a closet that held a composting toilet and some hand sanitizer. He sat down, and Shiro did his business, and grimaced as the come inside just wouldn’t stop leaking.

At least he wasn’t bleeding. Every Omega knew of someone (for Shiro, it was one of his classmates from junior high) being raped during a heat, brutally used and then forced to-

He hadn’t realized how long he had been in there when he heard a faint knock. “Shiro. You feeling okay?”

When he didn’t answer, he heard another knock. “I’m worried, so I’m going to open the door now, okay?” He paused. “It’s okay to tell me not to, just let me know you’re alive.”

Shiro realized there were tears covering his face and he couldn’t breathe and-

The door opened and Jake looked down, jaw working before pursing his lips together. Shiro nearly went into a blind panic as he disappeared, but he came back a second later carrying a green dishtowel held together with little more than stubborn pride. “Almost out of tissues, sorry,” he said, crouching and offering the towel. “I’m here. I know you don’t know me, but I ain’t gonna hurt you.”

Shiro shuddered. “I know.” His head did. Jake had been gentle the entire time. But everything was overwhelming, raw, and confusing, and his tears were just-

“You can cry. First Omega I ever went to bed with, she cried almost the whole time even when she was teaching me how to make her happy,” Jake said off-handedly. “I would offer you a shower but the reservoir’s almost empty and my well don’t got enough pressure. But I just het up some water on the stove for a quick wash. I put on enough for the both of us. Sound good?”

Shiro nodded, shrugged, then nodded again. He found a big chipped enamel dutch oven put in front of him, and an equally scratched up bucket of cold water. Both were about half full. He realized that Jake must have already washed- he’d changed into a pair of boxer shorts- and Shiro felt better. The simple normalcy of it eased the panic to the back of his mind.

Jake returned after a moment, this time wearing a shirt and jeans, and offered Shiro his own pair of clean boxers.

“I ain’t got much to cook right now. I was gonna go into town today for supplies, but,” he shrugged, when Shiro stepped out of the closet. He could feel Jake’s eyes on him. Shiro met his eyes and lifted an eyebrow, and Jake scratched the back of his head. 

“Um. You walking okay?”

Shiro blinked, taken aback, frowning at the insinuation that he… he could take two steps. Tried to take two steps.

He folded down on himself and swallowed a groan.

“Shit,” he heard, before Jake knelt on his left side, tossing that arm over his shoulder with his right arm around Shiro’s waist. Together they managed to help Shiro hobble back to the couch… which he noticed had a new blanket covering it. On top of that, his uniform was on a hanger, hooked on a nail in wall. 

“Aren’t rutting Alphas supposed to be all ‘grrr’ caveman, mate, mine?” Shiro asked after a moment. “Violent and scary and-”

Jake’s lips twisted. “And if there was another Alpha I might. Well, hit the other Alpha with a stick or something. Alphas that act that way are shitty people regardless.” Shiro chuckled. 

“What the hell is a nice guy like you doing in a place like that?” Shiro asked as his energy started to flag. He found a bottle of water placed in front of him and the bottle of generic Tylenol made another appearance.

“Long story. And you want to nap for awhile, go for it. I’m feeling the need to nest,” and he made another face. “I reckon we have another couple of hours, given how long that last bout went on.”

Shiro nodded, not saying anything when Jake draped the quilt back over him, and buried his head in a flattened pillow.

He either slept, or passed out, when he heard the door open and shut and… it was hard to ignore the sound of light footsteps, sounds he thought he knew. The whisper was equally familiar, he knew it, it was someone he-

“You _fucked_ my teacher?” 

Shiro sat straight up, nearly knocking the quilt off as he flailed, in time to see Jake, kitchen towel (a different one, but with the same determined spirit to keep existing despite physics saying it shouldn’t) thrown over one shoulder. 

“Yes,” Jake answered. “You want some SOS?”

“Dad- what, yeah, sure- you can’t just- is he hurt? Did you hurt him?”

Jake sounded exasperated. “You can ask him yourself.”

Keith turned to Shiro, eyes scanning him for injuries. “Did he mark you?”  
“ _Mark_ him? You know that’s fucking bullshit, son,” Jake protested, even as Keith narrowed his eyes to stare at Shiro’s neck. “I taught you better!”

Keith flushed and looked down, and sighed in exasperation. 

“No, he’s not marked me. I mean, mark mark, not-” There were many love bites, and Shiro pulled the quilt more tightly around himself as the memory sent a ghost of remembered pleasure trailing over his skin. 

Keith choked. “Shiro-”

“He’s in heat,” Jake said, walking up and miming a cuff to the ear. “Still is.”

“Keith, he… your Dad has been very kind to me,” Shiro said, quickly. “Really. He tried to get me to leave when he realized he was going to rut, he… he..” And Shiro coughed. “He took care of me while I was… and he’s been slow and patient and… “ 

Keith’s ears were going red. “TMI.”

“Even better, we’re not done yet,” Jake replied, and Keith yelped as Jake snapped his backside with a towel. “Now get some plates out while I get to cooking _for our guest_.” 

Those words galvanized Keith into action, taking off his school uniform jacket and heading in behind his dad to grab for a kitchen rag that had probably been a piece of one of those willful, undying kitchen towels in a previous life and wiped off the small table. In the meantime, Jake was opening up what looked to be jars of dried meat.

“SOS?”

“Shit on shingle,” Jake said. Keith shook his head.

“It’s dried beef gravy on toast.”

“I’d make biscuits but we’re bout outta flour and milk,” Jake offered. “But I got some tinned milk, so I can cook something.”

Keith gave Shiro an apologetic smile. “Um. It’s not healthy, I mean, _at all_ , but… it doesn’t taste half bad.”

Shiro tried to stand to help, but his groin protested almost as soon as he did, and both of the Koganes turned to him and protested as soon as he tried.

So he sat back, watching Keith hover and try to add more salt to the gravy while his dad shooed his hands away, asking if he _wanted_ to kill him young, while Keith warned him off adding tabasco sauce. 

“You put it in everything.”

“Blatant lies. Are you trying to frighten our guest?” Jake said, waving his hands around while the first batch of bread popped out of the toaster, which Keith pulled out (with a yelp) and reloaded. 

“It’s not a lie when it’s true!”

Soon enough Shiro had a plate in front of him, along with another tumbler of ice tea and both father and son sitting across from him. 

They were funny, he decided. His own father had died when he was a boy, and he had to become the responsible one after that. These two got along almost like friends… and he did some quick math in his head.

“Jake, how old…?”

The taller man blinked. “I’m thirty-three.”

Keith had been at the Garrison Academy for little over a year, since he was admitted at age fourteen. 

“You were… what, seventeen when Keith was born?”

Silence suddenly dragged down the mood, and Shiro hunched shoulders.

“I dropped outta high school when I was a kid, lied when I signed up for the army, met Keith’s momma and dropped out the army,” Jake answered, shrugging one shoulder. “I don’t… I don’t like talking too much about it.”

“Oh.” Shiro picked at his plate. “I...that was rude.”

“Nah. No regrets.” He ruffled Keith’s hair, who accepted the gesture good-naturedly. “Why’d you come out here, anyways? You said something about…”

Shiro blinked at both of them. This morning seemed like a lifetime ago. “Yeah. Keith, you never got the health records waiver signed. So I was sent out here this morning to see if I could ask you to sign them, Jake.”

Jake frowned. “And you couldn’t tell that your heat was about to start?”

Shiro hunched up further. His appetite hadn’t been very strong to begin with, so he sipped the sweet tea. “My first heat was when I shifted, and I spent most of that unconscious from the pain.”

“I’m sorry, honey, that came out wrong. No judgement. Heats and ruts are fucking weird. Just asking if you noticed it, because it seems… how many Alphas you know on blockers?” He shrugged. “Seems mighty suspicious that you come out here, and your heat shows up outta nowhere with the one guy who can’t turn you out?”

And Shiro felt someone had punched him in the gut.

Shiro hadn’t been able to control his heat; it hadn’t occurred to him that Jake, who said he couldn’t take regulators, might not have wanted-

“Oh, hell, don’t look at me like that,” Jake muttered. “It’s not the same at all.”

“So you really _did_ wake up with the urge to breed up the next Omega you ran into?” Shiro retorted, managing to scoot over closer to him. “You planned your day with ‘up at eight, pounce the Omega coming to visit, make dinner’?”

Jake snorted, turned towards him. Out of the corner of his eye, Shiro saw Keith’s eyes go wide and cover his mouth, but it didn’t hide the smile crawling up towards his eyes. 

“That’s for tomorrow. Today was groceries and cleaning up some,” Jake retorted. 

Shiro chuckled a little… and somehow, he wasn’t sure when or how, he was sitting in Jake’s lap. Big hands were running through his hair. “Sorry I threw off your busy calendar,” Shiro said, back against his chest. He closed his eyes, and just…

“You need to eat something, honey,” Jake said. Shiro sighed as Jake snagged his plate, dragging it over. “We got two days left.” And now Keith made a strangled sound. “Please.”

Shiro grumbled as he leaned forward, using his fork to cut up the soggy toast. Keith was right, tasted fairly good. To his surprise, he found himself finishing and perking up a bit. 

“So, um… What should I do?” Keith asked. He had already cleaned his plate and was stacking his with Jake’s. 

“You should go back to school,” Shiro and Jake answered at the same time, before both laughed. 

“Really, you had to have skipped classes to come out here,” Shiro answered, and he felt Jake’s arms tighten around him. 

“I was worried about you. You missed class, too,” Keith protested. “I snuck into the main office to see where you had gone when you borrowed one of the Garrison jeeps and saw where it was and…”

“Requisitioned your own?” Jake said, sounding resigned, if amused. 

Keith coughed.

“It would be best if you went back, especially if you want to avoid some trouble in the morning,” Shiro went on. “I can’t really cover for you.” He shifted his weight, and the sudden slickness between his thighs reminded him that, as normal as he felt right now, that wouldn’t last. “You really, really don’t want to stick around.”

Keith’s face went red.

“I’ll go shopping for some perishables,” Keith said after a moment. “I’ll leave them at the door and then go back to the Garrison, okay?” He got to his feet, backing out.

That was when Shiro realized that Jake had started kissing the back of his neck.

And Shiro was arching into it, eyes half closed, while his hands drifted to Shiro’s belly. It felt… really nice. 

“Thanks. My wallet’s on the counter.” Jake chuckled. If Shiro hadn’t heard him laugh before, he might have missed the faint edge of hysteria. “I’m sorry, son.”

Keith shrugged. “Just glad you’re…” His eyes went huge when Shiro ground himself backwards and Jake _moan_. “Gotta go, bye!”

There was a sound of squealing tires.

“He’s not legal to drive yet, is he.”

“Got nothing to do with it. I’ve been teaching him since he could look over the dash,” Jake answered. “Wanted him to know how to handle vehicles.”

Shiro went limp as Jake’s hands went up to his pecs, finding his nipples and teasing them. Making him whimper. “He’s a good kid. You’re a good dad.”

They ~~would~~ _could_ have gorgeous pups.  
“I wouldn’t say that,” Jake answered. “I hope I done right by him.” He went silent and still for a moment, before Shiro tilted his face back and kissed his jaw, wiggling around until he was straddling Jake’s lap.

He wasn’t quite in the grip of his heat, not yet. But. 

He really didn’t want to wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea when and how this will be continued right now. I have to finish a big bang, and I'm also working on my other WIPs. *shrugs, sighs* But please tell me if you liked it. It genuinely helps.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should be working on other fics. And I will. But this one is bright and shiny and... well. Let's see where it goes.

Shiro hadn’t been on a bender since he graduated from the Academy, gone back home, had a karaoke drinking party in a tram, bar-hopped with his friends until it counted as a yonjikai, got hamburgers from van at two in the morning and woke up later on the third floor of a rusty stairwell.

This felt pretty much the same.

Except instead of waking up because of screaming cicadas and traffic, he was sitting in the Garrison jeep he had requisitioned for going out to visit his student, Keith Kogane’s father. And he had fallen asleep from sheer, simple exhaustion.

So it was a good thing that he wasn’t driving.

The aircon was frigidly cold, in contrast to the sunlight pouring in the tinted windows. He woke because the engine had stopped.

“This your place?” Jake asked as Shiro blinked his gummed up eyes.

Shiro nodded.

“I’m surprised,” Jake said, getting out and coming around to open the door for Shiro, and Shiro smiled in bemusement. “The Garrison used to keep a tighter leash on their people.”

“Ah. Last year we had more Alphas than usual and I was the only Omega on staff,” Shiro said, taking Jake’s offered hand as he got out of the jeep. “I could either move in with the Omega students or get a stipend to live off-campus. I took this option. Most of the students don’t know I’m an Omega and I would like to keep it that way.”

“Because you present as a man?”

Shiro winced and nodded. In-betweens that refused to change their gender presentation were treated… poorly, to say the least. “Most of the kids are good, but there would be no privacy.”

Jake chuckled. “I had to kiss most of my private life goodbye when Keith came into my life. So I understand completely. It was years before I could have conversations with him that didn’t involve him coming in to talk to me while I was taking a dump.”

Shiro was about to cover his face to hide his snicker… when he noticed that Jake was still holding his hand. Lightly, he wasn’t gripping it, but he was gently stroking his palm with his thumb.

Shiro swallowed, and gave his hand a tug to lead him to the stairs. His building was a four-story walk-up, and of course he was on the top floor. “Does Keith know you like telling embarrassing stories about him?”

“Of course,” Jake said easily. “Don’t worry, I don’t do it in public or tell stories that he hates. Just a few of the cute ones.”

Shiro grunted as they went up the stairs; Jake was keeping at an easy lope while Shiro found that he was sore, still, and Jake slowed up to offer his arm. 

Shiro glared at it, glared at him, then sighed. “I hate this.”

“That you still hurt or that I’m offering my arm?” Jake asked. 

Shiro looked down. “Both. No, I take that back. You’ve been very gentle with me and I appreciate that.” He took Jake’s arm and continued up the stairs. “I don’t like losing control, and that’s what happened, and I can’t do anything about it.”

“You were on suppressants. You did everything right.” He frowned, and looked away. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. And because I can’t take regulators you…” He hissed through his teeth as they got to Shiro’s door, and let their hands drop.

Shiro swayed, feeling adrift, before opening the door. Stepping inside, he tapped the wall mount, and the tiny studio apartment lit up.

It was pretty spartan, which he was fine with. Easy to clean. One wall had the small kitchenette, a full size fridge, tiny dishwasher, and a washer and dryer in the apartment itself. He missed having a Japanese style separate bathing room and toilet, but he had lived in the States for almost six years at this point. 

He still took his shoes off.

He hesitated. His apartment, after several days someplace else, smelled strange to him. Not just because of the trash, either. He hung back, briefly, and… he sighed. He had gotten used to Jake’s scent on him, all over him.

Jake stood in the door, waiting.

Shiro licked his lips. “Would you like to come inside?”

“You sure?”

Shiro nodded. To his pleasure, Jake took his shoes off as well, and padded in after him, looking around, taking in the framed woodblock print, an old Gundam poster and pictures of his family on the walls. 

He directed Jake to the low table, which had some foam bolsters for back support around them. “Have a seat?”

Jake nodded, crossing his legs as he sat at the table. “Okay. Um…” He took a deep breath, and sat down. He looked… honestly about as nervous as Shiro felt. “Given any thought to what you’ll do next?”

Shiro paused, before automatically turning to his small kitchenette and reaching for the electric kettle. “Report for duty, then go to the infirmary.” He licked his lips as he filled up the kettle and put it back on the heating unit, distracted as he rifled through his drawers. Mama had sent him some _hojicha_ awhile back. He could ice that… “If they can’t handle the procedure, then I’ll go to Planned Parenthood.”

Jake nodded, absently tapping the table. “You been with the Garrison for a long time?”

“A while,” he answered, pulling out the tea and opening up the tin, and taking a deep breath. Still smelled drinkable. “Want some sugar in your tea?”

“Nah, but thanks. Want any help? I feel useless sittin’ here.”

Shiro flushed. His stomach and groin still ached, worse from coming up the stairs. “I’ve got some glasses and a teapot under the sink. If you wouldn’t mind… I don’t think I’m going to be squatting anytime soon,” he said. 

Jake sprang to his feet and all but hopped over, a look of relief on his face. “Happy to be of service.” And Shiro was treated to the sight of his gorgeous ass as he looked down his back when Jake squat down. Jake whistled as he brought out the teapot. “Nice goods.”

“They are,” Shiro mumbled, then realized Jake had been talking about the pot. “Yeah, um, my mother sent it. She came to visit after I moved in here and I had nothing by styrofoam cups and,” he shrugged. Jake was standing again. There was _maybe_ four centimeters in difference on their height. Maybe. And Shiro went to the gym whenever he had free time. Shiro still felt small beside him.

Jake was admiring the tea set. They were some Okinawa glasses, and a matched set of a hand-thrown black pot with a blue enamel lid and black cups. His mom had been incensed that he had nothing to show off for guests. (There was even a matching sake set, along with some bottles of good _shochu_ and _nihonshu_ behind that.) 

“I’m honored you’re bringing out the good stuff,” Jake said ruefully. “What do you want me to do with these?”

“Rinse them out while I get out the ice,” Shiro replied. Jake did as ordered, and Shiro took the teapot as soon as it was cleaned, and tossed in some of the leaves. 

He tried to ignore the heat coming off Jake as he brushed by and traded off the ice for the pot to fill from the kettle. The silence stretched as Jake stood behind him, watching over his shoulder when he finished but… but not quite close enough to touch. 

“Ahh- your question,” Shiro finally blurted, when Jake didn’t make a move. “I went to a pretty strict academic high school for a year before transferring to the Garrison academy. So… I was about seventeen. I’ve been with them ever since.”

Jake grunted. “They treated you well? They’ve had some issues with in-betweens and Omegas in the past, if I recall.”

Shiro shrugged one shoulder. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.” 

Jake let it drop. “This your family?” he asked instead, gesturing to the pictures. Shiro relaxed, nodding, as Jake asked him about where he grew up, his brother Ryou, his parents. He stayed close, but didn’t try putting his hands on Shiro again.

After three days of Jake’s skin against his, arms around him, and sweet words… he felt cold. 

And a reminder that Jake hadn’t actually signed up for helping him through his heat. He didn’t really know him. This was just… He sighed. Come tomorrow, he might not see Jake again.

He hadn’t exactly felt _great_ , but now, his mood started to sink even more. 

Jake offered to carry the tray of tea and glasses to the table, and Shiro let him, and was… really unnerved when Jake sat on the other side of the table from him. He started to tap on the table again. 

“When do you plan to go to the Garrison command to report in?” he asked. 

“I should try for this afternoon,” he said. It was barely mid-morning. Jake had offered to drive Shiro back when his heat was apparently finished, and Shiro had taken him up on it. (Keith would go back with Jake later to return the jeep. Shiro had just shaken his head and allowed it.)

Jake wasn’t looking at him, still staring at the table, lost in thought. “You want me to go with you?”

Shiro blinked, a stomach lurching. “To report in?”

“And to the infirmary, afterwards.” He breathed out, nostrils flaring, bringing out the lines around his eyes. “Call me a grouchy knot-head Alpha, but I don’t want them giving you any trouble. I’m… worried.”

And a little spark of warmth started back in Shiro’s belly. “I followed procedure to let them know what happened and why. The worst that could happen is some paper work,” he said. 

Jake frowned, and closed his eyes and rubbed them. “I turn into a giant pitbull after a rut. I want to follow you around with a loaded shotgun and an inflatable mattress in case you fall. It gets a bit much for some people so I am doing my damnedest to keep it under control.” He gave Shiro a lopsided smile, but the knuckles on the hand gripping his glass were white. “And if it does, tell me to go to hell. I’ll manage. Just… that’s where I’m coming from right now. I don’t like having you out of sight.”

That little bit of warmth in Shiro’s belly got bigger.

“Is that… so?” Shiro flushed. “Um. I’m wanting to take a shower. You probably haven’t had one in a few days so…” He tilted his head. Smooth, he told himself. Try to be smooth. “Would you like to join me?”

Jake blinked. Several times. “You realize… you don’t owe me nothing, Shiro. I mean, um, this whole thing is mighty, well, fucked up.”

Shiro looked down and tried not to fidget. “I know.”

“Bonding’s just… it’s not real, you know that, right?” He leaned in to Shiro. “I know that people like to make this romantic bullcrap, but it’s like beta honeymoon hormones. It don’t last.” He wiped his face and laughed, a little hysterically. “You follow your hormones and the next thing you know, you… your life is…” He covered his face. “You can do a hell of a lot better. Someone closer to you age, at least.”

Shiro swallowed. “So you don’t want me?”

Jake tilted his head. “Not a matter of wanting, Shiro. I want you five ways from Sunday. You’re smart, you like my boy, you’re a pilot, you’re goddamn gorgeous and make the sweetest sounds in bed.” Shiro felt his ears burn. “But… take it slow. God I sound like a patronizing ass, but… I would happily, _happily_ follow you in there either for just a wash or more, whatever.” He leaned back and his smile was crooked. “I’ve had my heart broken before. I don’t know if I can handle it again.”

Shiro blinked. Blinked again. Took a long, deep breath and let it out. He got to his feet. He walked over to Jake and held out his hand.

“Um. Wash my back?”

Jake laughed a bit. “Sure, honey.” He kissed the back of Shiro’s hand, and got to his feet. “I’m kinda ripe myself.”

~*~*~*~*~

The one luxury Shiro had wanted when he had gone apartment hunting was to have a deep bath. He had grown up taking baths every day, and visiting hot springs were cherished childhood memories.

It was nice having one big enough for two people.

He leaned back, lazily accepting a kiss to his forehead, then to his cheek and finally his lips while Jake stroked his cock while aftershocks of his orgasm still twitched his body. Jake was content as well; Shiro had given him the best blow job he was capable of. 

But they did eventually have to get out, after draining the tub and rinsing off again, this time with all seriousness. They got out, and Shiro was grateful that he and Jake weren’t too dissimilar in size. He had boxers and a t-shirt, even if his jeans probably wouldn’t fit. Jake would just have to wear his dirty ones. (Not that Shiro would object to him going _without_ jeans. Ever.)

“The smell of sky… refreshes over that sky,” Jake said, blinking at it. He still put it on, and it stretched taut over his chest and… Shiro had to staring at Jake. 

“That’s from my brother. He’s a dick. When he came to visit all he wore were shirts with long, rambling sentences that somehow used ‘Fuck’ and then claimed he didn’t know what it was,” Shiro answered, dumping their dirty clothes into the wash before reaching into his drawer for some clean underwear for himself. 

“Weird ass sense of humor or doesn’t speak English well?”

“The former. Even if he has trouble speaking he can read English like a native.” Shiro said. “Got any siblings?”

Jake grimaced. “I did. Been… a long time ago, now.” He shrugged and rubbed the back of his head. Shiro tossed him some socks, which he caught and sat down to put on, and Shiro joined him awhile later. “It wasn’t anything all at once, if you’re thinkin’ some tragedy. Just… time.”

“Oh.” Shiro sighed and bumped their shoulders together. “So, Keith’s all you got?”

“Not _all_ ,” he said, and Shiro’s heart flip-flopped. “I… reckon you don’t have a regular anyone, right now? No friends with benefits or…”

“Too busy. Getting ready for the Kerberos mission has taken up most of my time.” He exhaled. “And, speaking of which… Ready?”

“Just one thing. You got your pills?” Jake asked, crossing his arms. “Your regular suppressants?”

Shiro took a sharp breath. “Yeah?”

“Let me get hold of ‘em. They’re gonna have to reissue them anyways.”

Shiro shrugged, and went back to the bathroom to find the bubble packet. It looked the way it always had, small round white pills encased in plastic. He was a bit disconcerted when Jake pocketed them and said nothing else as they left. 

“You really think they were tampered with, don’t you,” he said, as they got into the jeep. 

Jake sighed. “Listen. I saw the Garrison do some pretty shady stuff awhile back. Long time ago now, but it all started with what looked like a lot of coincidences,” and the way he said ‘coincidence’ make Shiro hide his face in a smile, “ and built to. Well. People died.” And that wiped the smile right off his face. “At any rate, this seems too specific. Alphas and Omegas… there ain’t that many of us, and most are on some kind of meds. I wish I could suss out what the hell they intended, though. Because it was one hell of a risk, sending you out when you’re about to start a heat. Us Alphas _can_ control ourselves, sorta, at least enough to send people away. But alotta bastards don’t bother.”

Shiro took his hand, not looking over at him as they went down the road. The Garrison wasn’t that far off, maybe ten minutes on the road. “I’m glad it was you,” he said after a moment.

“Well, you shouldn’t _have_ to be,” Jake groused, then winced. “Came out wrong. Sorry. This whole thing just… it’s fishy.” Shiro saw him frown out of the corner of his eye. 

“Now you’re making _me_ paranoid,” Shiro said under his breath. 

“A little paranoia can take you a long way,” Jake said when the jeep came to a stop. “Speaking of which.” He half covered his face with one hand. “This may have been a huge mistake.”

Shiro opened his mouth to ask as he pulled into the main security gate… and realized they had been surrounded. Sergeant Montgomery, head of Security, was standing there with a full team backing her up.

“Lauren?” he asked, rolling down the window as Jake groaned. “What’s wrong?”

“We heard that your vehicle had been missing for three days, and that you called in saying you were in heat. We’re to make sure you’re okay,” she answered. Shiro stared, incredulously, as they opened the other door and pointed their pistols at Jake. “And see if this gentleman here would come with us for awhile.”

“I told you I was okay,” Shiro protested, opening the door to get out.

“No, Shiro, don’t. You… you go, clear things up on your end,” Jake said. “I’ll be okay.” He was staring at the gun. “But I don’t think I did anything wrong here.”

“You didn’t,” Shiro said, in disbelief. “This man took care of me when I was helpless, Lauren. You shouldn’t be-’

“He found an Omega in heat and took advantage of you,” Montgomery said firmly. “We know Omegas tend to get a little bit… confused… after a heat. It’s going to be okay, Shiro. Come with us and we’ll take care of you.”

“This is ridiculous-” Shiro tried to go to Jake, but was blocked by two people in medic uniforms. “I need to talk to Sam Holt,” he said. “I was on my way there.”

“And you will,” Montgomery said. “After we’ve taken you to the infirmary to check you for injuries.”

“I appreciate your care, but what the holy fuck is going on. I told you what happened-”

She patted his shoulder before taking his arm. “It’s okay, Shiro. You’re safe now.”

Jake caught his eye. “Take care of yourself,” he told Shiro, and leaned in, brushing his lips across Shiro’s possessively. There was a loud yell before he was dragged out and tossed to the ground.

“Stop-”

“It’s okay, Shiro,” Montgomery went on, and one of the medics took his free arm. “They won’t let him hurt you anymore.”

“No, please, didn’t hurt me, you have to listen-”

A sharp prick hit the side of Shiro’s neck, even as he managed to free his arms from her hold to run- 

Silence.

~*~*~*~*~

“You didn’t have to do that to him, I was going to cooperate,” Jake growled, on his knees with two guns pointed at him. He was still trying to edge towards Shiro regardless.

He was glaring up at the new head of security, who was looking over at him. 

“Shiro’s a good kid,” she said. “And he’s clearly not in his right mind if he thinks that some rut-brained Alpha was helping him for the past few days. We’ll get him sorted out. You, on the other hand, I would happily put in jail to rot.”

“But only after we get to talk to you for a few hours,” a new voice said, and both looked over to see Iverson heading their way, even as Shiro was being picked up and loaded onto a gurney. 

Jake grimaced as they cuffed him. “So. I’m guessing the kid was a honey trap after all?”

“Not intentionally. We had other plans for him,” Iverson answered, squatting down to get a good look at Jake’s face. “Well, well. You are looking good for a man who turned sixty-four last month, aren’t you?”

Jake just bared his teeth and snarled.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note for dubious medical practices and my continued distrust of the medical profession. **Content warning** for discussion of abortion.

Laws regarding an Omega’s heat tended to be highly vague, at best, and non-existent at the worst.

Shiro was scowling at a pamphlet, obviously written by betas, about what to do if he had been assaulted during a heat. Step one: make sure you had been wearing your scent diffuser...

He had awoken about an hour ago, in the infirmary. He had gotten up, tried to leave, and was promptly shoved back in some ‘concerned’ security personnel and told that he needed wait for the doctor. He had said that he would leave regardless-

And they did their best to look apologetic and told him that, no, he wasn’t going to be allowed to leave, because they needed to collect evidence for a possible criminal investigation.

Now he was stuck there, because the guards were armed. And they had drawn their weapons on him.

Shiro grimaced. He had been reassured to wake up and discover that he still had his phone, but there was literally no reception where he was. That meant he was either underground so far that the signal was blocked or there was some other interference. He had also found leftover suppressants… and some long pieces of metal, with different shapes and sizes.

They were in the same pocket as the pills. Pills that he had last seen on Jake.

So, Jake’s kiss and pawing had been more than just a last-minute show of possession. Shiro shook his head. Paranoia had its uses.

Those would be useful, if the right opportunity arose.

Shiro took a long breath. The guns were the main problem. He was eyeing the ventilation ducts when the door behind him opened, and he reached for his chair to use as a weapon-

Only for Sam to come in.

“Oh dear, Shiro, are you alright?” he said, hands out. “I’m sorry you’ve been left here for so long. Montgomery called to tell you were here and that I should check on you.”

“I’m _fine_ , Sam,” he said, angry. “Except for the fact that I’ve been drugged and held against my will. What the _fuck_ is going on? I let the Garrison know what happened to me, so I sure as hell wasn’t AWOL. I come to report for the duty and the next thing I know-“ and he waved his arms, trying to indicate everything that happened. “And Iverson is holding some guy I just met prisoner and saying I was-“ he snapped his jaw shut rather than complete that sentence.

Sam was sighing and nodding his head. “We were very concerned for you when you called in, Shiro. We were,” and his lips twisted up, frowning and fidgeting. “We were expecting you back that day. We hadn’t realized that there was any danger to sending you out-“

“The _danger_ was from my heat. If I had gone anywhere else-“ and a cold tingle went down Shiro’s back. If he had gone anywhere else…”I might not have run into someone who was willing to help me.”

“If you had run into someone else, you might not be pregnant now,” Sam answered, quietly, and Shiro looked away and bit his lip, before meeting Sam’s eyes.

“Hormone regulators just mean an Alpha isn’t _compelled_ into a rut. And with all due respect, sir, there are plenty of betas who will, and who have taken advantage of Omegas in heat. There are plenty of Alphas, betas and Omegas who are shitty people,” Shiro said firmly, remembering Jake’s words. “But Jake was thoughtful and kind to me throughout. He could have just used me,” and that was hard to say. So hard to say. The implication made that frisson of cold down his back get bigger, but he hid it. “But he didn’t. Instead of took care of me and made sure I was safe, even when coming here.”

He crossed his arms, muscles in neck standing out.

“Shiro, you know that the rush from heat hormones can cause Omegas to become overly emotional, and unable to think clearly about their situation,” Sam said. He took off his glasses to polish them. “Did he offer to let you leave?”

“Yes! That’s what I’ve been telling you-“

“Why didn’t you take it?”

Shiro went silent, grinding his teeth together. “I tried. But the thought of leaving just, it made me, it felt wrong.”

“Any rational person would have left,” Sam went on, putting his glasses back on. “You have the Kerberos mission coming up, you are young… but heats aren’t rational. It's all about the breeding imperative. There is a reason that Omegas can’t legally give consent during one.”

Shiro twitched. “Then it was mutual abuse, because he couldn’t give consent either. Jake can’t take regulators. He had no idea I was coming. So this wasn’t planned.” By him, at least. 

“Will you consent to a medical examination then?”

Shiro stared at Sam. “What?”

“We find no evidence of abuse, we’ll let him go,” Sam said. “Let me call the doctor to check to see if you are well.”

Shiro took a deep breath. “Is this doctor also capable of performing an abortion?”

Now it was Sam’s turn to look flabbergasted. “You want to,” he said, then cleared his throat. “Well, I’m a bit surprised. Surely you want some time to think it over?”

Shiro glared. “Can he?”

“I’m sure we can ask. Are you going to agree?”

Shiro gave a choppy nod, and Sam’s face relaxed. “Good. There is a gown under the bench. I’ll send him in.”

~*~*~*~*~

Shiro was grateful they didn’t do a full rape kit. It was bad enough as it was.

The doctor was another old man, and he had come in, surprised to find a tall man there. He had asked where the little Omega was.

Shiro had swallowed his tongue and introduced himself. The man had blinked, made a disapproving noise in the back of his throat, and asked him to lay back on the table and put his feet in the stirrups. 

Shiro complied. 

When he had first shifted, his first doctor had been understanding. The memories were muddled in brutal and ugly pain. But she had stayed calm and supportive, and given Shiro options on what to do afterwards.

This doctor wasn't one he had met before, even though Shiro thought he had known most of the staff. But he had turned on the voice memo on his phone and was keeping a running commentary on what he found, and kept saying things like “the Omega’s vagina is smaller than average in its unaroused state- hm- that Alpha was pretty lucky, wasn’t he?”

It got worse, with comments on the bruising, comments on the size of his Alpha from the finger marks on his hips, but no defensive wounds. “Nothing to indicate he fought back.”

It went on for at least an hour before Shiro was able to bring up getting an abortion.

“That is not something I can do right now.” He straightened and gave Shiro a _look_. “This has just happened and you shouldn't rush into anything. You are young and healthy. Your pelvis is, proportionately, a little narrow but given your size, you should deliver as easily as a regular Omega.” 

Shiro looked away. “My answer won't change.”

The doctor hummed. “I can prescribe a medical abortifacient. But I have none on hand right now. And given that the worst injury on you are those bruises on your hips and some mild dehydration, you’re free to go.”

Shiro sat up, glaring down at him. “When can I get the prescription?”

“I'll have to special order it since Omegas have slightly different hormones from betas,” the doctor hedged. “And this is something you really should speak with your Alpha about. You might feel hesitant, but your mate may feel differently. This is his child, or possibly children. He should be consulted.”

“When can I come get it?”

The doctor’s face was disapproving as he scowled at Shiro. “It will take a few weeks for it to arrive. You may also try to find another place to perform the procedure, but the closest is out of state and almost four hundred miles away.”

And he would have to take special leave for it. Shiro nodded grimly. “I will keep that in mind. Can I go see Jake now?”

The doctor tilted his head to the side. “Who?”

_The guy who got dragged into this. The man with the incredible ass, gorgeous chest, delicious dick and sweet personality that made me forget why making babies was a bad idea. Someone who definitely didn't rape me because he couldn't say no either._

“My Alpha,” Shiro said after a moment. “I need to know he’s okay.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Jake Kogane's had a lot of experience with being patient and not panicking.

It was hard, though, coming down from a rut. His head knew that Shiro was a grown ass man, smart as a whip, and probably one of the best the Garrison had. But his skin was clammy as he paced the cold cement block room he’d been tossed into. His heart was racing with dread. His belly churned as he fought to keep the tremble out of his hands.

Alphas could work themselves up into a berserker frenzy if they weren't careful. It had come in handy when dealing with folks that were bigger and stronger than he was, on top of being naturally more athletic than most of the goddamn species. But the down side, as always, was keeping his territorial and protective instincts in check.

Despite the name, Alphas were not natural leaders. They were closer to sentinels or guard dogs, with instincts and senses to match. But they often had trouble with seeing the big picture, were driven by their gut when they became emotionally invested.

Ruri, Keith’s Momma, had teased him for it. But it had helped her on more than one occasion, so she hadn’t complained. Except for the last time.

His senses had jacked up because he was worried about Shiro. He could hear every step down the halls like they were thunder, every breath an echoing susurration. Hearts tapped gently, even as he fought to ignore the constant drumbeat of his own.

The regulators most Alphas took were meant to control the hormones, the massive anxiety and mood swings that came with them. They also dulled the oversensitivity, making it possible to live in a densely populated space. Alpha were outdated relics of their evolutionary past, he had been told. Same as Omegas. They couldn't help being closer to animals than people.

Breathe, he kept telling himself. Just breathe.

He heard Iverson when he was about five hundred meters out. He heard him talking about how they were going to try get Jake to talk. But they were happy that Shiro apparently hadn't been hurt. He regretted having to take such measures, but this was all for Shiro’s own good.

So… It was good to know that Shiro hadn't specifically been sent to seduce him. Jake was relieved, because everything about Shiro had seemed to rouse his protective nature: vulnerable, inexperienced and confused, but serious, smart and feisty. (And beautiful, healthy and fertile as a rabbit doe in spring. Goddamn lizard brain.)

But they had watched Jake long enough to know he wasn't medicated. 

So the question was… How long?

When Iverson came in, Jake didn’t look at him, trying to keep his breathing regular.

“Never thought we would see _you_ again,” Iverson said after a moment. “You disappeared almost forty years ago.”

“I think you must have me mistaken for someone else,” Jake answered. “I got an uncle I was named for,” and ironically, this was true. He had a nephew named after him, and he’d been named after a grand uncle on his mom’s side. 

Jake wished he'd gotten to meet him. Both of them.

“I’ve seen the impossible, Kogane. Don't go trying to pull the innocent act on me.”

“ _Innocent?_ ” Jake said, and scoffed. “You ain’t got _no_ right to talk. You send out an inexperienced Omega who been taking his meds like a good little soldier. And with no warning, he starts his heat as soon as he gets a good whiff of an unmedicated Alpha? I am what I am, but you bastards ain’t got no excuse.”

“You stink of threat pheromones; even I can smell them. You’ve been growling ever since I entered the room. You really expect me to believe that you didn't go into rut as soon as you smelled Shiro?” Iverson asked sarcastically.

“I tried to get’m to go,” Jake said. “And I ain't gonna brutalize someone just ‘cause of a rut. Ask Shiro. Take his word for it. I ain't ever went to bed with someone and _not_ left ‘em smiling in the morning. Or not got’em out when they wasn't interested.”

Iverson snorted. “You’re an unmediated Alpha. Perhaps we should ask if you left your son smiling-”

Iverson stopped and leaned back at the long, angry growl that rolled through the room, and Jake gripped the table so hard it splintered.

“You can't fucking believe that or you wouldn't have sent an innocent Omega into my territory,” Jake hissed, fighting to find words, to be able to speak. “You really think I would savage him, or my boy?” He took a deep breath, but he felt himself tipping, clinging to his sanity with everything he had. “You sent Shiro to me, then tore him away hours after my rut ended? You threaten my son?” He dug in with the last scrap of control he had. “Get the hell out of here.”

“You are in no position to threaten-”

“I'm not threatening.” The table splintered under his fingers. “I'm warning. Get out of here now while I can still think and don’t let anyone in until-”

He choked. The words were too hard to get out. “Until I calm down. Or I might just kill anyone in the room with me. Now git!”

~*~*~*~*~

Shiro didn't use the ventilation ducts.

It didn't take him that long to figure out where Jake had been taken. The Garrison wasn't actually military; they were mostly dedicated to science. That meant that while they had a brig, they didn't have a dedicated space for holding dangerous prisoners.

But they did have lots of storage.

And most of that storage didn't have guards. So he would use a distraction-

“Shirogane!” A voice barked, and Shiro turned to see Iverson walking his way. So much for stealth.

“Sir?” He said coolly. 

Iverson’s nostrils flared. “Come with me.”

“With all due respect-”

Iverson turned to him. “You want to see Kogane or not?”

Shiro made a choppy no, clenching his fists as Iverson gestured for him to follow. They walked through several mostly empty corridors before arriving at door with two armed guards and a simple lock.

The two guards had been whispering to each other and nearly jumped like out of their skins when Shiro and Iverson arrived, snapping to attention but otherwise seriously unnerved. “It's a hell of a lot more quiet now,” Iverson said. “Is he still alive in there?”

“Yes, sir,” said one of the guards. Shiro thought he knew her. Philips, if he remembered right. “But he got real quiet about three, four minutes before you all walked up.”

“Quiet?” Shiro asked. “What happened?”

Iverson and the guards shared an uneasy look. “You should go see for yourself.”

Philips raised a hand in protest. “Is that wise, sir?” She asked, nearly choking. “He-”

“Shiro is his mate. Moreover, he’s carrying Kogane’s pups. He’ll smell that before he attacks.”

They looked dubious, but Philips nodded. Her partner readied her weapon, trained on the floor, as she punched in the code to unlock it and flung it open.

Shiro stepped inside. One step. Two.

He couldn't go any further.

Jake was sitting on the floor, covering his face with shaking hands while blood left crusty brown streaks down his arms. Around him were the shattered remains of- he guessed- some kind of table. There was chair, but it was in pieces next to the back wall. Deep scratches and pits scored the rest.

Shiro hissed, “ _Masaka_ \- Iverson, the fuck? What did you do to him?” He went to his knees, hands hovering over Jake’s head and shoulders. 

“Not a thing.” He stood at the door, refusing to come closer. “He did this to himself.”

“Bullshit.” Shiro took Jake’s shaking hands in his own and looking at his face. “Can you hear me?” There was a trickle of blood coming out of his mouth. “Jake?”

“You’re here?” He said after a moment, hoarse and rusty. Jake opened his eyes, and Shiro blinked as he fought the urge to cry myself. He could _smell_ Jake’s despair. “You safe? I'm sorry, I couldn't-”

“I'm here, I'm safe.” He turned Jake’s hands over; there were chips of paint and cinder block embedded in the skin. “So. You might have understated when you said you became very protective after a rut.”

“Might’ve. Just a bit.” He chuckled and closed his eyes. Shiro dropped his hands, instead putting them on the sides of Jake’s face and leaning in, pressing their foreheads together. “M’sorry.”

Shiro shook his head. “You didn't hurt anyone and this is all bullshit. We’re getting out of here.” 

He tossed a look back at Iverson and the guards. “That doctor didn't find anything you can use to press charges and you hurt an innocent man,” Shiro snapped, watching Iverson flinch even as he helped Jake to his feet. “So we are _leaving_.” He flung Jake’s arm over his shoulders and slapped an expression of pure murder on his face and stomped out of there, hopefully before their surprise at his rage wore off. Jake, it seemed felt petty as hell and shouldered Iverson aside.

Getting home was going to take some creativity, since he no longer had access to the same-

“Use these,” Jake said softly, dangling a set of keys in front of his face. 

Shiro stared at it a moment before snatching them from his fingers, a smile fighting to get on his lips. “So. Being a pickpocket is why you’re so good with your fingers?”  
This surprised a laugh out of Jake. “I like to think of myself as multi-talented. I can break down and fix an engine, fire a gun, patch people up, drive most things… And take involuntary donations.” He shrugged as they both hobbled over to Iverson’s own requisitioned jeep. 

They got in. “I should take you to the hospital,” Shiro said once Jake had shut his door. He was still breathing in small gulps and gasps, and his hands were still shaking. 

“They won’t be able to help,” Jake answered. “Just… get someplace quiet. I gotta… I’m sorry about this. I really am.” He seemed to have trouble breathing. Shiro gripped the wheel and peeled out of the Garrison campus as quickly as he could. 

He realized he had taken Jake back to his apartment just as they pulled in. This time he helped Jake out, and they walked up the stairs to his place, opened the door.

“Shiro, I gotta favor to ask,” Jake mumbled, once the door behind them was locked. Shiro perked up, blinking, as Jake swayed back and forth on his feet. 

“Whatever you need,” he answered without thinking, and Jake smiled, a bit weakly. 

“Just… just breathe, all right? I need to know you’re okay,” he said, voice cracking. “That you’re all right. Can I touch you?”

“Yeah, of course.” Jake turned to him, and Shiro made a surprised sound as Jake went to his knees, putting his head on Shiro’s chest, arms around his waist. “Jake-”

“Breathe. Where they took you, I couldn’t hear you or smell you and they just carried you off and I couldn’t follow,” he muttered, almost babbled, into Shiro’s chest. Shiro wrapped his arms around Jake’s head, gingerly petting his hair. “Made it sound like they were going to hurt you, hurt _Keith_ -” he shuddered. “Just… you’re here. You’re safe. You’re okay. You’re fine.” He held still, panting like he had just finished a race, sweat beading off his skin, swallowing down a whimper. “You aren’t… You’re here.” 

Shiro stared. “Yeah. Yeah I am.” He kept petting. “I’m here. You’re fine. We’re fine. Keith’s fine.” He wasn’t sure, but bringing that up seemed like a bad idea. 

Jake held his head there, to Shiro’s chest, for a few more beats, before inhaling sharply and getting to his feet. “Thanks.” He swayed back and forth, nodding to himself. Shiro’s heart plummeted to his feet as his smile failed to reach his eyes. “Mind if I clean up?” He looked down at his hands. “Sorry about this-”

“Give me your clothes and I’ll start another load of laundry,” Shiro answered. Jake’s smile crawled a little higher towards his eyes, and Shiro gave him a shove. “What? It’s not like seeing your naked ass-” and heat rushed up to the tips of his ears, down his neck and chest and. And.  
Jake relaxed further, his smile finally getting to his eyes. But instead of stripping there- and Shiro absolutely wanted him to- he went into Shiro’s bathroom and closed the door. 

“Got some club soda? Or some peroxide?” he heard. “Don’t wanna ruin your shirt.”

Shiro shifted his weight. “Under the sink.” He heard water running and the sound of cloth on cloth and the water stopped. He heard some steps, some shuffling-

He frowned. “Can I come in?” he asked. When he didn’t hear an answer, he tried the door- he was half afraid it was locked- and when it opened he winced. Jake was standing in front of the sink and mirror, over the shirt Shiro had given him, watching the peroxide foam and bleach the blood out of his shirt. “I can do that,” he offered. “You can finish cleaning up.”

Jake shook his head. “My fuck up. Let me fix it.” He sounded exhausted, words dragged out with hooks.

“It can wait until you’ve gotten cleaned up yourself,” Shiro said firmly, getting out soap. 

“You aren’t responsible for me,” Jake snapped, then grimaced. “That came out wrong.” He sighed, and Shiro stared as he consciously lowered his hackles. “No. I’m… Hm…” He sighed. “I caused this mess. I need to be more careful.”

“No.” Shiro took the shirt and pulled it out of the way, and took one of Jake’s hands and put it under the tap, and started to lather it up. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” The small bits of paint and cement came up in the lather; it occurred to Shiro that he should be wearing gloves for this. But then, they had already swapped so many body fluids at this point it probably didn’t matter. “You did the same for me. And it’s not like I gave you much choice, by sticking around during my heat.” The skin underneath was already pink and healing. The bones, as he palpated his hands, felt intact… but given that they had been a red and swollen earlier, had made Shiro think they were broken. 

Jake didn’t even wince. 

“So. Is this part of the reason you can’t take regulators?” Shiro asked softly, putting his hand under the water again to rinse it.

Jake grunted. “Part of it.” He looked down. “Long, long story there. But the short version is that I tend to burn through meds so fast they don’t have time to do anything. It’s a pain in the ass. Can’t take pain meds, or pretty much anything.” He shrugged. 

“Is that _because_ you’re an Alpha?” Shiro asked, taking his other hand. “Most of the ones I know have been on meds their whole life.”

“No. Just me.” He tugged his hand, just enough for Shiro to realize he wanted him to let go, and he did. “It’s… well, another long story. And, not yet, okay?” His smile turned sheepish as he finished rinsing his arms. “Just. I want you to know that you are not responsible for me being a knot-head, dumbass, overwrought Alpha.” He exhaled. “And I appreciate your help today.”

Shiro bit his bottom lip as Jake got a towel, looking away. “I could smell your distress. When you were coming into the storage you smelled-”

“Don’t worry about it-” Shiro hedged. “It’s…”

Jake leaned down and kissed his nose, making Shiro sputter, before leaning over to brush his lips over his cheek, then found his lips. “Later then.” Shiro put his hands on Jake’s chest in surprise. Not to push him away; just to touch him. He let them slide down and around his ribs and buried his face in Jake’s shoulder.

It was a relief; such a holy relief to hold him. To feel Jake’s lips on the side of his face, on the back of his neck, to feel his skin against his-

Shiro took a deep breath, and nearly jerked away. “Bonding’s not real?” he said, not sure if he meant it as an accusation, a question, or needing affirmation. “Bonding’s not…”

“Not the romantic bullshit they tell you,” Jake mumbled. “Gives you a giant brain chemical rush when you are with the person you spent a heat or a rut with. You go your separate ways soon afterwards… it’s nothing worse than a fond memory and a twinge on the heartstrings, especially if you’re careful and use protection.” He lifted a hand to Shiro’s face, then pulled it back. “You said you might want more than a roll in the hay. The longer this goes on, the harder it’s gonna be to end.” He swallowed. “Shiro, they sent you out to me for a reason. I don’t know what it is. I don’t know if it was to get me out in the open, or something involving you, or both.” He reached out again, and Shiro… twined their fingers together, despite himself, and stepped back in close.

“It’s not some sort of mystical connection, or soul bond, or whatever you want to call it,” Jake said, even as his arms crept around Shiro’s waist. “Just one hell of a hangover.” He closed his eyes. “Can even be one sided.” Shiro blinked as Jake choked. “And it can be broken with time, distance and one hell of a lot of booze.”

Shiro wasn’t an impulsive person. He planned, he was methodical, mindful and careful. So he hesitated, breathing hard as implications ran through his mind, as the possible future tried to spin itself out in front of him. 

His body chose, at that moment, to override all of that, hooking his free arm around Jake’s neck to haul their mouths together for a messy, open mouthed kiss that melted his insides and made him whimper. Jake growled, both hands Shiro’s ass, squeezing, then picking Shiro up like he was made of foam. 

“Shiro,” Jake asked, teeth trailing down his neck. “You sure about this?”

Shiro nodded. “Yes.” He smiled. “Please.”


	5. Chapter 5

The smell of coffee and frying eggs were what woke Shiro up the next morning.

He really, really didn’t want to move. All of his muscles were water, except for his groin which ached pleasantly in a way that reminded him of being wrapped around… He twitched at the memory, and blinked through gummy eyes.

Jake was standing in front of his small stove, which was spitting and hissing and smelled wonderful. Shiro watched the light on him, just smiling. 

Then he frowned. “Where did the food come from?” 

“There’s a store about a mile down the way,” Jake answered, flipping what looked to be a massive omelet. “You was sleeping so hard that-” And Shiro sat straight up, looking around, scrambled for his phone and-

It said six thirty-four. He wouldn’t have time for a jog, but...Shiro flopped back on his back, before getting up. “When did you get the food?”

“You was sleeping so hard I didn’t wanna wake you,” Jake said. “And all you had was jerky, beer and instant ramen.”

“I had milk,” Shiro protested, before running to the bathroom. “And some coffee!”

“Really?” He turned a quick smile to Shiro. “Because when I opened it, it was cheese!”

Shiro felt his face heating up as he jumped into the shower. His knees were still a little wobbly- he had to quickly think about latrine duty to get himself to not think about why and react to it- but he managed to get a five minute wash done and out just as Jake was setting his small table. 

“Make yourself at home,” Shiro offered, just a touch sarcastically, as the Alpha snorted, putting down plates of food.

“Don’t mind if I do.” He hesitated and sighed. “I get antsy and territorial in a new place. So I had to check things out,” he said by way of explanation. “And I don’t gotta sleep so much.” He wrinkled his nose. “So I poked around and then went for a jog super early and found that store.”

Shiro shook his head. “No problem. I was just surprised.”

Jake's lips twisted. “I shoulda asked. Sorry.” He offered Shiro a spatula. “Help yourself. Want coffee?”

“Please,” Shiro said, slicing a piece of the omelet and scooping it onto his plate. He nearly shoved it all into his mouth. “Milk, too.”  


Jake nodded, placing one of Shiro’s bigger cups (and guessing, correctly, which was his typical one. Probably because it had been in the drying rack that morning) filled with coffee and put the milk beside it. His own cup (a slightly smaller, battered thermos mug) was beside it. 

And his face split in a grin as Shiro muttered a quick _itadakimasu_ and wallowed in his plate. 

“Pretty good?”

Shiro nodded; there was actual cheese, peppers and onions and some very, very good mushrooms. “I am so glad you can cook,” Shiro muttered. His stomach, which had been rumbling and queasy, let him know that it was quite happy at that moment. “I’ve burned ramen.”

Jake chuckled, before pulling out a bottle of tabasco and liberally sausing his eggs. “My Momma made sure I had those skills down. Said I,” and he took a bite, and kept talking. Shiro looked away and hid his smile. “Said, with my face, I better get used to taking care of myself.”

Shiro choked and almost sputtered while Jake slapped his back. “You okay?”

“Seems kind of heartless,” Shiro said, once the coughing subsided and had a sip of coffee. “To tell your own son.”

“Eh, she ain’t wrong,” Jake said. “Ain’t no one else’s job to look after me but me,” he said, and took another bite. This time he chewed and swallowed. 

Shiro looked at his now mostly cleared plate. “My mom wanted me to become… domestic, after I shifted.” He grimaced. Like he hadn’t already gone halfway across the world to pursue space. Like he hadn’t lived on four hours of sleep a night through junior high to study. “Said I should learn how to be a good wife.” Because, after all… that was all an Omega was good for, right?

Jake laughed. “Right. Yeah. You are what you are, and that’s you. An instructor and a pilot and a pretty good guy, and I’m glad to have met you.” 

And Shiro’s face lit up, before he looked at the time. “I need to go.” He shoveled more food into his mouth and chugged down his coffee. 

“What would you like me to do?” Jake asked. “No car right now and Keith’s got lessons.” 

“You can stay here, if you like, or you can come to campus,” Shiro offered, dashing back to the bathroom to brush his teeth. 

“I’ll stick around here for right now.” He followed Shiro into the bathroom. “You try to get back to as normal as you can. But you mind if I use your computer?”

“Sure!”

“Password?”

“Uh I taped it to the bottom of my laptop,” Shiro said sheepishly. Jake’s eyebrows hit his hairline. “What do you need it for?”

“Just gonna do some research, that’s all. I may go nuts and clean while I’m here.” Shiro nodded at him. “I don’t do well pinned up.” 

Shiro nodded. “I can come back for lunch, about thirteen hundred.”

Jake smiled and nodded, and Shiro finished cleaning his teeth, got his uniform jacket and left.

~*~*~*~*~

The smile dropped off Jake’s face almost as soon as Shiro left, as he pulled out the small package of Shiro’s suppressant pills.

Shiro seemed completely innocent of whatever the hell the Garrison had plans for. Everything from the way the Garrison had treated him, to Iverson’s own words, had seemed to bear that out. 

But what they wanted to do, with both of them, he wasn’t sure. 

His snooping around hadn’t _just_ been his regular territorial self; he was territorial as hell, but he wanted to see if Shiro had kept any of his old receipts. And for the most part, it seemed he had. Even kept a cute little book full of his old prescriptions, all in order. He took the book, found the date, the physician’s name, and sat down in front of Shiro’s computer.

~*~*~*~*~

“Hey, Shiro! We heard you were down with the flu!” a voice called, and Shiro looked up to see one of his co-workers waving at him as he used his keycard to get into the building.

“Er… I had a fever, yeah,” Shiro answered, baring his teeth more than smiling. He hadn’t thought of what to tell his co-workers. Not all of them knew he was an Omega. Most of them, in fact. “But just,” and he coughed. “Just spent a few days in bed and I’m great!”

“Well, given that smile on your face, looks like you got a lot of rest!” she said, came up and gave him an elbow to the ribs as he held the door for her. “Someone come and make you soup? Hm?”

Shiro coughed again. “Uh… maybe.” Jake hadn’t made soup, but close enough.

“And look at that blush!” the woman, Eugene, went on. “Hey, ladies, look who's back!”

And that was when Shiro quickly found himself surrounded. “Yeah, the rumor mill went crazy!” Eugene went on. “Security said you came back yesterday and-”

Shiro stiffened at the reminder. If the Garrison hadn’t been his life for the past six years, he probably would have walked out. If the Garrison hadn’t been… He swallowed hard as he found himself surrounded by kind, chattering instructors, who were puttering and patting and ushering him to the employee lounge. 

“There you are!” a voice said, breaking through the chatter, and Shiro paused when Matt Holt appeared at the other end of the hall. “Took you long enough to get here, Takashi. Come on, we need to get classes ordered-” and he hooked Shiro’s arm with his, shed their more maternal coworkers, and hauled him into their shared office. 

Then he closed the door.

Shiro stood in their tiny office, which looked as if a typhoon had hit it. There was a mess of ungraded work on his desk.

“What the hell, Takashi?” Matt asked. “You okay? Four days at least, man. You just- you just vanished.” He pulled out a wheeled chair, sat down, and ignored when it carted him back a meter. “Dad comes up and tells me-” he choked. “God, man, that was scary.”

“What did he tell you?”

Matt adjusted his glasses. “Not much. Just that you were caught outside when your suppressants failed.”

Shiro grabbed his own chair, was about to swing it around to straddle it when an ache in his groin reminded him that it might not be a great idea right then. Instead he sat down and crossed his arms and his legs. “Something like that. I went to visit a student’s parent and I went into heat,” he said quietly. 

Matt looked sick. “Have you been-”

“He didn’t hurt me.” Better to shut that down right then. “He was actually… really, really good to me.” Shiro squinted up at the ceiling because he didn’t want to look at Matt’s face twisting into various grimaces. “He’s… listen. He tried to get me to leave, I chose to stay. Since he wasn’t able to take regs he went into rut. But we’re both fine. Just. Fine.”

When he brought his eyes back down, Matt looked horrified. “Did you call the police?”

Shiro tapped his foot. “He didn’t hurt me. I went through this with Garrison Security yesterday. I wound up getting a full exam,” and he realized he sounded a lot more bitter than he meant to, “and he’s clear. I’m not pressing charges.”

“And you stayed with him until your heat ended?” Matt said, and swallowed hard. “Shiro, you’re-”

“Getting a prescription to deal with that,” Shiro snapped back. 

Matt flinched. “Shiro, really? That easy for you?”

Shiro twisted in his seat. “I worked half my life to get where I am, Matt. I love piloting. I like teaching, but that’s not why I’m here. I _earned_ the pilot’s seat on the Kerberos mission,” he hissed, and took a deep breath. “We’re going to start training, probably on the Mars site or at the Ceres shipyard, probably in a few months. _I can’t do that pregnant._ And I know I’m not irreplaceable, because-” he choked. “You know how many people competed for the slot? And if it gets out that I’m an Omega, people are going to say-” his shoulders shook. “Shit. I either slept my way into the pilot’s chair, or that I’m not fit because I can’t dedicate enough time because I’m popping out babies, or-” his chest hitched. “I fought for too hard and for too long for this.”

Matt took off his glasses, and swallowed. “For what it’s worth, I don’t want anyone else in the pilot’s seat.”

Shiro’s shoulders twitched again before turning to his desk and went to check where they were in the lesson plans. Since he had been selected for the Kerberos mission, both of their teaching workloads had been reduced to the point where they barely had face time with their students, or were relegated to assistants. It was a disappointing by-product of their situation, but a natural one. Now most of their workload was preparing for Kerberos: Shiro was studying the schematics of the _Orpheus_ , ship repair, first aid for space related injuries, practicing Russian and Chinese so he could communicate with the crews on the various space stations. 

The good news was that he had only one simulator class to deal with and he had time to plan for it.

“I got lucky,” Shiro said after a few moments, and Matt flinched. “I had a friend, in junior high. She had her first heat and… a gang of boys… they thought it was funny. They weren’t alphas, just” Shiro’s chest hitched again. “She tried to come to school a few times, but no one would talk to her.” Including him. The shame still clawed his belly. “So she quit school. I don’t know what happened to her after that.” 

Matt couldn’t look at him. “Lucky, huh? Doesn’t sound like it.”

“There’s worse things than being stuck with someone who’s a good cook,” Shiro said, trying to bring the mood back up. “Jake was kind to me. Kept me fed, watered, was gentle-” and Matt choked.

“So, you happened to have a heat with a gentleman. Or a devoted pet owner.” Matt spun to his computer as Shiro sputtered. “What was his name again?”

“Jake Kogane. He’s Keith’s father.”

Matt tilted his head like it was about to fall off. “Shiro… that’s really weird, you know?”

Shiro let out a deep breath. “Tell me about it.” 

A few moments passed in silence while Shiro caught up on his email and grading, when he realized that Matt’s fingers had stopped flickering over the holo-input.

“Matt?”

“Well, my first thought was to try to cyberstalk this guy.” Matt rubbed his chin. “But so far, there’s nothing about him on social media. No blogs, no Instagram, no Facebook, even.”

“He lives so far off the grid that he doesn’t even have running water,” Shiro pointed out, rolling his chair to look at Matt’s screen. “And he’s ten years older than me at least. Maybe he’s just not comfortable with tech.”

“Pretty much the only current reference I could find was in Keith’s file.” And they were both painfully familiar with it. 

Keith was, put mildly, a little odd. Shiro liked him; he was a force of nature during training or in the simulator, honest and blunt as a brick to the face, and didn’t seem to care much about social niceties. He had the same personality as a feral cat: loving once you earned his trust, and curious about the simplest things, and willing to hiss if he was startled.

Shiro had gotten to work with him for the past year since he was admitted to the Academy. Keith’s faults were a lack of patience with others who weren’t at his level, a cultural blindness that made him miss a lot of the unspoken cues that smoothed everyday interactions along with complete illiteracy of pop culture. It had been Shiro’s idea to put him with younger students when his lack of social skills kept him from making close friends. 

Lance and Hunk were both great kids. Lance had a need to fly that almost rivaled Keith’s, and Hunk was brilliant but he was shy and awkward. Giving Keith people to look after had helped him feel anchored. Lance and Hunk, in turn, had benefited from having someone more advanced directly tutoring them… as well as literally scare off anyone who even considered bullying them.

Not to say there wasn’t friction between them at times, but overall, it worked. Unfortunately, this meant that Keith would take on anyone who thought it was funny to pick on the kid who didn’t speak perfect English and the other one who was fat. Gleefully.

His parents were listed as Jacob and Ruri Kogane, and they were divorced. There wasn’t an actual address listed for their house, just map coordinates, which was what Shiro had plugged into the jeep’s GPS. 

“This is the only reference to him?”

Matt twisted. “The only current one. It’s a little morbid, but,” he said as he pulled up two images. One was of a tombstone for a Robert Kogane, and two small markers beside them. They listed the names Jake and Jesse. “Looks like they all died together in a car crash about thirty years ago.”

Shiro crossed his arms. “And…”

Matt brought up another image. “Turns out that he was the little brother of another Jacob Kogane. Only this time, he had died about nine years before that.” 

The image was of an obituary, and a badly copied photo. The image itself was pretty blurry, the face was younger. But, holy shit.

Shiro leaned in. “That… that can’t be right. Family resemblance?”

Matt pushed his glasses up his nose. “Possibly. I mean, my family happens to be the trope namer of Strong Family Resemblances. My Nonna still calls me Sam.”

Shiro was scanning the obit, pursing his lips. Jake Kogane was killed in a freak accident on Garrison property. It rambled on, not giving him any useful or distinct information. “Can we hack into the Garrison files?”

“I tried,” Matt admitted. “The database itself only goes back twenty years.” Shiro stared at him. “I’m not saying that the information isn’t there. It could be on a stand alone server, or maybe even hard copy. But I can’t get to it right now.”

Shiro blew through his lips, and turned to stare at the screen. It could have been his Jake. Younger, certainly. The Alpha he had gotten to know had a scar through one eyebrow, shaggy silky hair, and this picture lacked those. The picture-Jake wore a crew cut, a tiny cocky smirk twisting his lips, eyes challenging the viewer to a fight. The kind of Alpha he would walk on the other side of the street to avoid. 

Not the man who had kept calm and cool, and had touched him so-

Shiro shut down the tab. “I don’t think that’s him.”

“Well, given that this guy died forty years ago… I’m not going to kinkshame you, Takashi, but I didn’t think you were into corpses,” he started, but Shiro tossed more paper at him.

They eventually settled down to get ready for one of their classes, and while Shiro didn’t want to believe that the two images were related…

He wasn’t going to forget about it, either.

~*~*~*~*~

Even after a good hundred years since the invention of heat suppressants and women’s lib and Omega awareness, it had been almost pathetically easy for him to walk into a new pharmacy, play up his ‘gosh darn shucks’ accent and be the confused, bewildered Alpha sent out to pick up his boyfriend’s pills.

Shiro had mentioned that the reason he had changed pharmacies was because of a shift in his insurance. So Jake had gone to the one listed on the older receipts and… well, there was some hemming and hawing, and some exclamations of surprise that Shiro had found a boyfriend (and Jake felt like a dirty, dirty old man, hearing that) before they had handed Jake the new prescription. They had asked for his ID, and the last four digits of Shiro’s social security number, which Jake had managed to find. 

Jake spent the waiting time wandering around and hamming up the put-upon, clueless Alpha act, acting like he was vaguely embarrassed to be there and trying to hide the pills in a bag of beer and chips and smokes. (Well, at least he would be using the smokes. They tasted terrible but they took the edge off when scents got unbearable in the city.) 

He went back to Shiro’s place, checked the thread he had used to make sure no one else had come in- no, safe- checked the windows- the tape hadn’t been disturbed. 

He sat down at Shiro’s little table and rifled through the paper bags, pulling out the new suppressants. Hm. 

They were different. 

Shiro probably would have picked up the prescription at a different pharmacy and would have chalked up the differences to having a new doctor and a new prescription. After all, he had no reason to be suspicious, right?

He popped a pill from the new package and looked it over. Small, round, white, and with the dosage stamped on it. The old pills were… similar. But not the same. Not by a long shot. 

Out of curiosity he popped it in his mouth (and he could just hear Ulaz and Keith protesting- he didn’t plan to swallow and his sense of taste was better than Ulaz machines half the time) and let it dissolve on his tongue. He got up to spit it out, swishing his mouth clean (and missing his toothbrush) before spitting. 

It tasted like sugar. Just sugar. None of the bitterness that came with other chemicals. So he repeated the experiment with the new pills and nearly gagged, spitting it out quickly. He compared the placement, which was meant to be the same day, and thus the same dose.

There was a set of placebos to allow for breakthrough bleeding to clear out old uterine lining. He tasted both. Frowned.

Same sugar pill as the earlier one. “Sonuvabitch,” Jake muttered. “ _Sonuvabitch_.”

Jake sat back, taking a deep breath. There had been part of him that hoped that this really was just a dumb fuckup. A clerical error. Somehow, Shiro had just been given the wrong pills and was in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

He hated this. Shiro was a good man. He didn’t deserve this shit. Jake hated himself, hated being a fucking Alpha, right then. He should have thrown Shiro out, even if his body was screaming to be bred. But once a rut started all he could think of was how sweet Shiro’s skin tasted, how pretty he’d be round and heavy, how slick and plush his cunt was. If Shiro had objected, he probably could have made himself stop, but… Shiro had been as far gone as he was. 

It just wasn’t goddamn _fair_.

But then again, nothing in his life had been fair. Fairness didn’t matter in this universe. What mattered was that he fixed things.

Now he just needed to figure out how to do it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning for tobacco usage

“Shiro?” a voice called, and Shiro looked up to see Keith at the other end of the hallway, waving to him. He was dressed for class, in his school jacket and pants, holding his class tablet under one arm as he called out.

“Hey!” Shiro stopped and waved back as the teen trotted his way. “What are you doing here?” It was almost noon and Keith usually had Russian 101 right now. Given the multi-national aspect of most deep space bases, all students had to get at least a feel for the different languages spoken.

Keith made a face. “Uh…”

“Going to sneak in some simulator time again?” Shiro asked, tilting his head to the side. That was how he had met Keith the first time, after all.

Keith sputtered. “No, the bell rang. Dad texted me and asked me to ask you if he could meet you outside the gate and go out for lunch. He doesn’t have your number.”

Shiro blinked, because… yeah. Jake was Keith’s Dad. He still had a disconnect there. “Sure. No problem. Want to come with us?” Keith might want to spend time with Jake, after all. (And it wasn’t like they could… not that Shiro had really wanted to… knots took a long time to go down and they still had to eat. Right?)

“No.” Keith said and shuddered, and Shiro internally winced when Keith gave him a stink eye. “You two are still going to be giving each other sex eyes, and I don’t want to see that. Not that you can help it,” he gestured. “Human reproduction is weird. Dad talked to me about it but thinking about how it affects my Dad is just…”

Shiro felt his cheeks flush. “This has to be really strange for you.”

Keith grimaced. “Yeah. I mean, Dad’s been with a few people since Mom…” He sighed. “But not since we moved out here. And he didn’t cook for them.” His face turned serious. “Shiro, you’ve been a great teacher and I like you. So please don’t hurt my Dad.”

Shiro swallowed. “It’s none of my business, but what happened to your Mom?”

Keith’s face twisted into a scowl. “She left us. Left Dad. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Shiro blinked. “She’s still alive?” Somehow, he had thought she would be dead. “Was she a beta?” Because while his relationship with Jake was still new and his heat was over, Shiro still wanted to go back and ~~ride him into the sunset~~ enjoy his company. Even now, he was getting a strong impression that cutting off a long-term relationship would hurt both an Alpha or an Omega.

Keith sucked his teeth. “… basically, yeah.” His frown got deeper. “When she left, she-“ and Keith turned to the wall, slamming his palm into it and hissing. “And Dad, he-“ Keith covered his face. “Just… don’t do that to him, okay?” He looked up at Shiro, painfully earnest and angry. “Please.”

Shiro put up both of his hands. “Right now, your Dad and I just met each other. We, um, last night we decided we’d see where this goes.” He shifted his weight. “So we’re… dating.” Going into this fully aware that it was going to hurt like hell to break things off. But he hadn’t wanted to. “I have no intention of hurting him. Are you okay with that? He was your Dad before he became my-“ and Shiro floundered, because he had nearly said ‘my Alpha,’ which he had used to get that asshole doctor to leave him alone. Lover? Fuck buddy? “...boyfriend.” Which was sort of childish and simplistic but. Hell. 

Keith sighed and crossed his arms. “Dad’s happy.” He screwed up his face and suddenly Shiro realized that Keith sounded _exactly_ like Jake when he turned on the Southern accent. “He always been happiest when he got someone to fuss over.” He smiled. “At least it’s not me.” And he turned it off. 

Shiro started snickering. “You sound like Gone with the Wind.”

Keith gave him an odd look, and shrugged. “What’s that? Want Dad’s number? That way he can fuss at you directly instead of dragging me into it.”

Shiro nodded. “You sure? I don’t mind if you come.” Keith’s looked like he had bitten into a lemon. 

“No. Just no.”

Shiro tilted his head. “So… sex is gross?”

And now Keith’s face lit up like a lantern and started to fidget. “N-no.” He looked down. “I gotta go.” He handed Shiro a piece of paper. “Bye!” He trotted off.

Shiro stared, looking down and quickly programmed the number into his phone. This was… weird.

~*~*~*~

Knots in Jake’s shoulders loosened as he saw Shiro come out, promptly at one, driving a car that was much smaller than the one he had used earlier.

He couldn’t help it. Any time Shiro was out of earshot Jake started feeling antsy. Hence why he was chewing absently on the end of his cigarette, before pulling it out and stomping it under his heel even as he straightened to get Shiro’s attention. 

Jake stuck out his thumb, making eye contact with Shiro and waiting for him to pull upside him along the road and roll down the window. “You going my way?”

“Where are you going?” Shiro said, lifting his eyebrows.

“Oh, I figured on heading into town, getting a bite to eat with a handsome stranger, if that’s okay with you,” Jake answered. “Feel like it?”

“I can do that,” Shiro replied. “Get in.”

He did, landing in the seat beside Shiro and fastening his safety belt.

As they pulled away, Shiro snorted. “Who even tries to hitchhike anymore?”

“I’ve done it a few times, usually when my truck broke down when I was a kid.” Jake leaned back. “But, y’know. Simpler times.”

“No phone?”

“Not until I got a lot older,” Jake answered. “You got a hankering for anything?” He had a lot to talk to Shiro about, but he was enjoying the chance to flirt with a pretty guy, just enjoy his company. Bad news could wait for a few minutes. “I could eat a horse, but I’m not feeling particular.”

Shiro shrugged. “There’s a diner nearby. They have a lunch plate. You don’t look like the kind of guy who might enjoy sushi for lunch.”

Jake sniffed. “I happen to a man of cultured and varying tastes. And yes, I have had sushi. I even ate all of the wasabi on my plate as a dare.” 

Shiro laughed. “Well, the stuff around here,” and he made a face. “It’s not fresh. So you’re better off not. Besides, I developed a taste for meatloaf and mac and cheese.” He paused, and glanced down as Jake put his hand over his knee, tilting his head for permission. Shiro nodded to him and Jake gave it a gentle squeeze. “Is your last name Japanese?”

“It is. My Grandpa’s from Okinawa via Hawaii, but most of me is Scots-Irish via Appalachia, meaning I ain’t gotta clue what’s there before three generations. But Keith was never going to turn blue from _my_ side of the family.” Shiro stared at him blankly. “Never mind. You?”

“My Dad was Swedish, actually.” Shiro pulled them into the diner parking lot. “My mom’s from Shikoku, the smallest of the main islands. He took her name.”

“Huh. You do that often?”

“Sometimes if a family doesn’t have any sons, a man will take his wife’s name, especially if he’s a younger son,” Shiro said, taking Jake’s hand and giving it a squeeze. “If she had moved back with him they probably would have taken his name and I would be, I don’t know… Sven or something.” 

Jake got out of the car, came around to open the door for Shiro. “So how’d you wind up at the Garrison?” Shiro got out, and they stood there, awkwardly, for a few moments. Jake was tempted to offer his arm, but he knew his manners tended to come off as annoying nowadays. Shiro settled the matter by putting his hand in Jake’s back pocket, making him grin as Shiro oh-so-casually pretended he wasn’t squeezing his ass.

Jake swung his arm over Shiro’s shoulders and pulled him close, brushing their lips together and- 

Shiro opened his mouth and Jake pinned him against the car, tongue down his throat, while Shiro had two handfuls of his shirt and was holding on for dear life. His legs parted and Jake lifted him by his thighs, as Shiro shifted his grip to Jake’s hair and shoulders, moaning into the kiss-

And someone cleared their throat.

Jake didn’t know who it was, hadn’t heard him at all, but he tried to lower Shiro onto the hood of the car (and he protested, hanging on more tightly) as Jake broke the kiss, not bothering to look at the interloper.

Shiro whined, softly, lips on his ear. “I don’t want to stop,” he whimpered, and Jake took a long, shuddering breath. 

“If you would be so kind as to leave us be?” Jake said, gulping air as he tried to not grind up against Shiro, who was so damn pretty like this. Legs wrapped around him and undone, biting his bottom lip because he couldn’t think. 

And this was a bad, bad moment for that.

“Just hoping you’d share some of that Omega ass, man,” that voice called, and it felt like cold water was thrown over him. Shiro went stiff, and Jake angled himself, obscuring Shiro’s face. “I got money if you want to sell a piece.”

“The _hell?_ He ain’t mine to sell you goddamn knot brain,” he barked, about to turn around, about to put Shiro down and _thrash_ whoever would dare come into _his_ territory, and try to take _his_ Omega-

But Shiro’s face was white, eyes wide and his lips were spread thin. And even more than the other Alpha’s words, _this_ pulled his head out of his ass. Jake wasn’t the one being treated like a fucking pet. 

So he ignored the Alpha’s continued taunts and pressed his forehead to Shiro’s, closing his eyes. “Your call, honey. Want me to thrash him? I’ll do it,” he whispered. “You want to do it yourself? I’ll hold your coat. Want to leave? Let’s find a store and I’ll cook for you back at your place.” The shock was wearing off Shiro’s face as his jaw firmed. “Your choice.”

“Just chase him off,” Shiro muttered. “Just go away,” he said, louder. “Get out of here.”

“You heard the man,” Jake said, pulling away from Shiro and turning and- the speaker was gone.

“Shit.” Jake stood there, watching Shiro cover his face. “Shit.”

“I am sorry, I shouldn’t have-”

Shiro dropped his hands. “Uh. I grabbed you first, remember?” He hopped off the car, and hooked his arm with Jake’s. “Not the first asshole I’ve dealt with, not the last.” But his lips were still white, and when their fingers tangled together, Jake could feel how damp his palms were. 

“Do you want to stay and eat, or go home?”

Shiro’s lips thinned, exhaled. “Let’s go eat.” And then he stopped, frowned, and dropped Jake’s hand.

Jake went still. “Shiro?”

Shiro grabbed the sides of Jake’s head and tilted him down for a quick kiss. “Do over.” He put his hand in Jake’s back pocket again, and Jake took the invitation to put his arm around Shiro’s waist. They continued inside. “You smoke?” Shiro asked after a moment. “I hadn’t smelled it on you before.”

Jake made a face. “Sometimes. Almost wish I hadn’t today, woulda smelled that dickhead coming.” At Shiro’s confused look he went on. “Poor man’s scent diffuser. Covers up my own smell and blunts everything for an hour or two.”

Shiro nodded at this, letting Jake take the lead as the went inside. Instincts and years of paranoia make Jake guide them to a booth in the back, out of line of sight of the doors and windows. There was almost no one else there; they walked past one blond man and a frowning waitress, who perked up when she saw them .

Jake gestured for Shiro to sit, offering to take his uniform jacket, and Shiro gave it to him, a bit bemused as he hung it up.

“Too much?” Jake asked as he sat down. 

Shiro shrugged one shoulder before picking up the menu. “Just… unexpected. I’m flattered. Is it an Alpha thing, or..?”

“More of a ‘Dad always told me’ thing.” He shrugged. “Dad started me out just with romantic partners, but Keith’ll tell you I do it for pretty much everyone.” He chuckled to himself, looking away. “My Mamaw woulda _looked_ at me, and I knew I was in trouble, if I didn’t mind my manners. Scary woman.”

Shiro grinned. “My _Baachan_ spoiled me,” he said. “And my brother.” The tension in his shoulders started bleeding off, to Jake’s relief. A few more words and Jake was able to coax him into talking about his high school before coming to the Garrison, visiting his grandparents during Bon in the summer. 

Shiro had dimples when he smiled.

Jake found himself propping his hand on his chin, watching Shiro’s eyes crinkle, how he ran his fingers through his hair when he was a bit embarrassed. How he waved his hands to make points. That he could get so caught up in his favorite subject that he barely noticed when the waitress arrived.

They both ordered, and Shiro barely took a breath to continue on. 

Jake enjoyed what he said. Shiro had a hell of a grasp of the physics of piloting; he had already been out to the research bases on Mars, and was working on training for his next mission. They had plowed through most of their food by the time they got to Shiro mentioning he had won a medal for saving two of his crewmate when a mission had gone belly up-

“That was _you_?” Jake said, delighted. “ _My Shiro?_ ” He could feel his smile splitting his face even as Shiro’s went red. Bright, brilliant- And Jake realized what he had said and covered his face. “Sorry.”

“No, no,” he breathed out, reaching across the table to take Jake’s hand. “I… I kind of…”

They both jumped when a familiar voice spoke up. “Well, well. Bragging about our accomplishments, are we?” 

The blond man from when they had come in… the man who had interrupted him. And now that he was close enough, Jake could smell that he was unmistakably an Alpha.

~*~*~*~*~

Shiro felt his back go stiff when he recognized the voice, and the face, of the man who had bothered them… and he felt his heart stop in his chest when he saw who it was.

Roy Focker had been his rival for the pilot’s chair of the Kerberos mission. He was an ace pilot, debonair, Alpha, and had felt that was the reason he had been edged out.

He was also looming over Shiro and Jake, smirking down at Shiro like he was the next lunch special. “Mind if I join you?”

“Yes, we do,” Jake snapped without thinking, leaning back and staring at him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, coming back here?” Well, that answered the question if Jake recognized him. 

“Just wanted to verify that it was the Golden Boy Takashi here, who was moaning like a ten-dollar whore,” he said cheerfully, sliding into the booth beside Shiro. He leaned in and took a long, long draw of the air around Shiro, who found himself sliding as far from him as possible. “Never would have pegged you for an Omega. But at least now I know how you got the Kerberos mission.”

“Excuse you, what are you still doing here?” Jake went on. 

“We’re old friends, aren’t we, Takashi?” Roy said. He didn’t smell strongly of Alpha; like most, he took his regulators. But that didn’t stop him from leering. “Besides, I thought he might like… _options_. Quality. If your heat is so close, Takashi, don’t you want a strong, smart Alpha?” His smile was lazy, all teeth, putting his hand over Shiro’s knee. “You don’t have to go slumming for some old trucker.”

Shiro grabbed Roy’s wrist and shoved his hand off. “Go away.”

“Now, don’t be like that,” Roy started to say, but jumped when Jake started to growl. “Don’t you want me to keep this to myself?” He tossed his arm over Shiro’s shoulders. “You’ve not told anyone you’re an Omega. Pretty girl like you shouldn’t have to hide.”

Shiro slapped the offending arm off him. “Stop.”

“I fucking dare you to say that again,” Jake added, slamming one hand on the table. “Admit what you mean, you shit head. You come over because you got fucking jealous. Because your goddamn Alpha ego meant you can’t admit someone beat you. So you come over and start harassing us.”

In the old days, Alphas rarely lived past fifty. Either they would fight each other, and die when they couldn’t win anymore, or they would go into a berserker rage and get put down by their own communities. There was no law enforcing the taking of regulators, but most schools, universities, social services and military required it. Which meant that, while Shiro had seen Alphas be assholes to each other, sometimes play a bit rough, he had never actually seen them fight before.

And, apparently, neither had Roy, who’s back went stiff as he straightened, nostrils flaring as _threat_ rolled of Jake in waves. 

Which distracted him from the cell phone in Jake’s hand. 

“You’re trying to fucking blackmail Shiro into sleeping with you, isn’t that right?”Jake said. “Because he’s a better pilot than you, you’re jealous, and you found out he’s a breeder so therefore it’s okay to make threats.” Shiro winced. 

“He’s a neanderthal, Takashi,” Roy said, turning back to Shiro, who was glaring at him. “Come with me, and I’ll take good care of you.” He ducked down, and without warning licked Shiro’s neck. 

“Get the hell away from me!” Shiro yelped, shoving Roy out with both hands, dumping him on his ass. “Don’t you touch me again!”

“You realize I’ve been recording this entire conversation, right?” Jake said mildly, getting to his feet, before putting one boot on Roy’s chest. “Now, I suggest you say what you did then apologize to the man you just threatened to rape.”

“Wait, that’s- come on, man. You’re an Alpha, too. You know how it is. Shiro had to have slept his- fuck, _her_ way through the Garrison.” The boot pressed harder, making Roy hiss. “There’s no way a heat-addled cunt could have gotten the Kerberos seat without using _her_ only talent!”

“Shiro’s a better pilot and a better man than you’ll ever be,” Jake said absently. “I reckon I got enough shit here to ruin your reputation.” He waved his phone. “Now, as of right now? Shiro, what would you like me to do to him?”

“What kind of Alpha are you?” Roy spat. “Letting some Omega order you around. He needs to remember his place-”

“My place is as a _pilot_ ,” Shiro snarled. “I did the exact same thing as you, Focker.” He turned to Jake, who was eying him. “I’m just better at it.”

There was a faint smile on Jake’s face as he bore down on Roy, forcing the air from his lungs. “I know you ain’t never had a proper fight before. You ain’t never learned how to submit. Now, here’s your chance. Apologize to Shiro. We just came in here for a meal. You decided to come in and stir shit up.”

Roy’s breath was rasping from the pressure, face starting to turn red. “Screw you, you cave man.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. Shiro?”

Shiro walked up beside Jake, and stared down at the other pilot. “Let him go. He says anything at the Garrison, we’ll tell everyone what happened here. Make sure you get a lawyer.” 

Shiro watched as Jake moved back, before stepping in close and grabbing the front of his shirt. “And Roy,” he said, before putting his lips to Jake’s, _purring_ as he coaxed Jake’s tongue out for a messy, sloppy, open-mouthed kiss. He cooed, almost despite himself, as Jake’s hands went from his waist, sliding up his back to pass over his chest, where his tits tingled at the heat and pressure. He arched into Jake, almost forgetting they had an audience.

The scent of aroused anger behind them made him break the kiss to look back. “Never yours.” He rested his head on Jake’s shoulder. “His.” He sighed softly, curling into Jake, who closed his eyes. “You’re too late. Now get the hell out here.”

Jake was snickering into Shiro’s shoulder as the other Alpha ran off. 

“Fuck,” Shiro mumbled, muffled by Jake’s shirt. “That was…” He could still smell Alpha, smoke and _domination_ coming off of Jake, and he didn’t mind. It felt safe. Reassuring. 

He could feel slick running down the inside of his thighs. 

He could still smell Roy, though, on his neck. It was maddening. 

“We need to be getting ourselves gone, too, Shiro,” Jake murmured. His big heavy hands were Shiro’s shoulders, and the tent in his pants pressed just below Shiro’s navel. His breath was hot and sweet on Shiro’s ear. “We can’t do this here.”

The whine in the back of his throat was pitiful, but somehow they separated, stumbling over to the register to pay and apologize to Ginger. 

The middle-aged lady gave Shiro a sharp once-over. “Now, Shiro, you want me to call the police?” She turned sharp eyes to Jake. “I ain’t never seen Shiro smile like that, mister, but-”

“He’s not the problem,” Shiro said, and found that he _could_ still smile ironically as he leaned into Jake. He knew he had to look like some Omega damsel, but he _needed_ the contact. “Why didn’t you call for help with Roy..?”

Her ears flushed. “I ain’t getting in the middle of an Alpha fight, Shiro,” she muttered as they paid her. 

“I’m sorry for the trouble,” Jake said, putting an extra twenty in the tip jar. “You shouldn’t have to deal with this.”

She glared at Jake. “I saw what happened. But I also know what’s coming. You two get your asses home before you two fuck on the table.”

Shiro groaned softly, burying his face in Jake’s shirt. “I’ll get him someplace safe,” Jake said, even as Shiro brushed his fingers over his hard-on through his pants, making him hiss. “Don’t you worry.”

Ginger nodded, and Shiro hooked his fingers in Jake’s belt loops to pull him out the door.

The hot air and sunlight were distracting, as they stepped outside. Thoughts of little things like _time_ and _duty_ were second place to getting as much of Jake’s skin as possible. Cleaning off the rival Alpha’s scent. 

He felt dizzy and lightheaded as they managed to get out to the car; he was only half aware of sitting on the hood for a moment, trying to pull Jake to him. Spreading his legs and leaning back, hands tangled in Jake’s hair as he kissed him, trying to devour his mouth.

Jake’s cock was hard against his thigh, and he _whimpered_ when Jake picked him up and set him in the passenger’s seat of the car.

“We gotta get back, honey.” He had Shiro’s keys- fucking _thief_ \- and was pulling them out of the restaurant parking lot. He put his free hand on Shiro’s shoulder. “It’s going to be okay.”

The cold air in his face, mixed with the scent of the car air deodorizer, making Shiro groaned as his head started to clear. “What the hell..?”

Jake glanced at him as they pulled back. “No sex this morning, and some knotbrain you didn’t like tried to scent mark you. Then you backed me up when that chihuahua challenged me.” He drove like a maniac; now Shiro knew where Keith got his piloting skills from. Shiro let out a sigh of relief as they got to his apartment building and came to a stop.

Jake gave him a crooked smile, leaning down to press their foreheads together. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Just Jake’s proximity was making his head swim again. He barely moved when Jake got out and opened the door. He let himself be pulled out and draped against Jake’s chest. “I am not in fucking heat,” he muttered in exasperation. “Why do I want-”

Jake kissed him again and Shiro’s pussy throbbed at the reminder it was empty. “Would you have let me fuck you on the car?”

The reminder made the throbbing worse. “Jake-”

“In the diner, in front of Roy?”

Shiro shuddered. “I wanted him to know what he’d never have,” Shiro mumbled, mouthing Jake’s shoulder as he as picked up again, wrapping himself around Jake. “Should have rubbed it in. I want _you_. Your bed, your knot.” 

Jake laughed. “Mine, aren’t you?” He carried Shiro up the stairs in a display of strength that had Shiro mewing. “I wanted to show him, too. Bend you over right there.” He nipped Shiro’s ear as got to the door, putting him down to unlock it. They stumbled in together. 

Shiro groaned as the door shut behind him, popping the button of Jake’s jeans and opening the zipper, reaching into his boxers to pull out his cock. “I should have gotten on my knees,” Shiro muttered, feeling his mouth water. They weren’t going to make it to the bedroom. “Shown him that he would never be able to please me like you do.”

There was a smirk on Jake’s face as he yanked Shiro’s shirt over his head to find his pecs, massaging flesh that stung with pins and needles. “You could have done that.” He leaned down, mouth covering Shiro’s tit and pulling, sucking with his mouth. Shiro shouted as he felt _something_ drawn from him, into Jake’s mouth, making him grab his shoulder and hair to keep standing. Jake had one arm around his back to brace him while he sucked, his free hand returning the favor of opening Shiro’s pants. He straightened, licking his lips. “Or I could have shown that he was late,” Jake whispered. “That I bred you up first.” 

_Reality_ knew that being pregnant was a bad thing. Right now? Right now-

“Yours,” he mumbled again. “No one else’s, yours-” he choked as Jake’s lips found his, shoving his pants down around his knees and pushing his back against the door. Lifting him up and folding him nearly in half. Jake’s cock found his sloppy wet little cunt and he pressed in, making Shiro keen loud and long. Then Jake’s tongue was against his lips and he tasted sweet and cream; his balls slapped Shiro’s ass with each thrust. He adjusted, found Shiro’s g-spot, making Shiro come so hard and so fast he felt like the air had been punched out of him.

“He’d never get close to me, next heat,” Shiro slurred, looking down to watch Jake’s cock move inside him. “Wouldn’t let him. You’d catch me and breed me.” A lazy smile crossed his face as Jake sped up, a few more pumps of his hips, and he felt Jake’s hot seed inside him.

Jake lowered them both to the floor, Shiro sprawled on top of him as they both laid there. Jake was slowly kissing Shiro’s throat, neck, sucking love bites up to his jaw.

“People will see those,” Shiro mumbled, too relaxed to move. His thoughts were thick and slow. 

“That’s the point.” His teeth were almost sharp enough to pierce the skin, making Shiro shiver, before pulling back and pressing his forehead to Shiro’s. “Thank you. Again. I didn’t wanna get into a fight with ‘im.”

Shiro swallowed. “I didn’t want you to, either. He wasn’t worth it.”

Jake chuckled, and threaded his fingers through Shiro’s hair. “Right. You are though. Worth fighting for.” And Shiro felt butterflies twitch in his belly. Then they turned to lead at the sober expression Jake’s face. “We gotta talk. I found some stuff… But you gotta-”

And Shiro blinked and sat straight up, feeling Jake’s cock and semen slip out of him. “Uso! I have a class!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the most plot-moving chapter, but it goes to character and world building. Still working on my Shiro Big Bang so that's taken up most of my attention. Sorry!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: I make a Terry Pratchett reference, from Men at Arms
> 
> And no, this fic isn't dead just yet. Been sick, been busy, been adulting. So, unfortunately, fic goes on the backburner. Wish me luck to continue!

Conspiracy Theory 7

Somehow, Shiro managed to avoid a living soul until he got to his office.

Of course, Matt was just coming back. From Shiro’s class. That he had probably had to teach.

“What the hell, Takashi?” he started out, about to spit hellfire- before his jaw dropped, glasses falling down his nose. “What the _hell_ , Takashi?”

Shiro shrank down into his chair. “Um.” He had thrown on his clothes on the way out of his apartment, barely taking the time to go to the toilet and haphazardly wipe himself. “That bad, huh?”

“That bad? _That bad?_ ” Matt squawked, before dashing away and coming back two minutes later, holding someone’s tiny hand mirror. “You look like- was it the same Alpha as earlier? You-” he kept sputtering as Shiro glanced at himself and cringed.

The love bites that Jake had left were vivid red and purple on his jaw, too high to hide them with his collar. His lips were swollen, shiny, nearly the same color as the bites. His face was still flushed. If he had a black eye he _might_ have been able to say he had been in a fight. But as it was, he looked like he had been ravished within an inch of his life. 

Which was what happened, but still.

“What happened? Afternoon delight get away from you?” He waved his hand. “I’m a beta and even I can smell him.” Shiro shifted in his seat, and the smell got stronger. He had nearly died of embarrassment when he realized he could still feel Jake’s jizz slosh inside him. He _hoped_ it wasn’t making a mess of his underwear and- 

“That’s unprofessional, Takashi,” Matt chided. He hefted a sigh. “I mean, I am _not_ jealous of you having sex. Obviously amazing sex that made you completely lose track of time. Sex that had to have lifted the most contentiously anally prompt man I have ever met to be late for his job into a state of utter bliss-”

“All right, all right, I’m sorry,” Shiro croaked. “I meant to be back before the end of lunch but we ran into some trouble.”

“Okay, logic me the way through ‘I went to have lunch with my hot piece of Alpha’ to ‘we had trouble.’” Matt’s frown turned real. “I am not below getting my little sister involved doing super science if he’s being trouble.”

Shiro leaned back in the chair and crossed his legs, feeling the flush on his face deepen at the still sloppy, oozy feeling inside his crotch. Fuck he had to get cleaned up before this dried. “We went to a diner, but Roy Focker was there. You know him, right?” At Matt’s nod, Shiro continued. “He saw some PDA that he shouldn’t have, and put two and two together to get Omega.” Shiro bit his bottom lip. “Basically Roy offered to keep the Omega thing secret if I slept with him and stepped down from the Kerberos mission.”

Matt’s glasses gleamed as he listened to the rest, though his face turned bright red when Shiro alluded to the frantic wall-sex that followed. “Shiro, that’s really not good. Both parts of it. Roy’s not going to let that go.”

“I know.” The blackmail might work for a time, but he would get more desperate the closer they came to the mission. “I just…” He exhaled. The decision to keep his sex under wraps had never felt so frustrating. He was a man; he had never questioned his gender. But now- 

He had fought for his entire adult life to be on the Kerberos mission. He had the skills. But afterwards? “Maybe I should just come out to everyone? I mean.” He twisted in his chair, unable to meet Matt’s eyes. “It’s only a matter of time now.”

“Er… I’d wait until _after_ we return from Kerberos and covered in glory,” Matt said, adjusting his glasses. “That can’t question your abilities after the fact.”

“A cisgender beta would be allowed to go get this mess handled without anyone questioning her competence, or saying she deserved it, or to take this opportunity to re-evaluate her life. If I was a fucking beta I’d still be embarrassed as fuck about showing up to work like _this_ ,” and he gestured to his fresh-fucked appearance, “but a beta man would be congratulated by other betas for getting laid. Hell, we’ve seen _Roy_ , a fucking Alpha, come in with some woman’s perfume and come on his pants and the worst he got was ‘don’t let the students see’. Why does it matter that I’m an Omega?”

“Because people want to think only betas are sane enough to do rational jobs like this,” Matt said, grumbling. “Which isn’t true. Last week excepted, you’ve usually got your head in the game better than most betas.” 

Shiro snorted, and put a hand over his middle. “Usually my meds worked.” He brushed his thumb just over his navel. “But right now, I could almost believe all those stories of desperate Omegas. I hadn’t felt _anything_ like that before.”

“That guy’s knot must be something else, because I didn’t ever think I’d hear you say something like that.”

Shiro snickered, then let a lecherous, lazy smile cross his face before biting his bottom lip. Combined with the rest of his freshly fucked appearance, it had Matt sputtering and saying “TMI, TMI! I like femmes! Brain bleach STAT!”

Shiro chuckled, for real this time. “I’m sorry about the class. It’s been. Strange.” He put his face in his hands. “He’s been nothing like what you hear people say about Alphas. Honest that he’s worried, but he hasn’t tried to control me, or where I go. He’s tried hard to put my comfort first, throughout all of this. Asks me questions, checks on me. Today’s been the first time I saw him do anything ‘grrrrrrrr’. And that’s because Roy decided to threaten me, and Jake used his brain, not his fists.” Shiro shrugged. 

“You remind me of Katie when she’s crushing on her latest dreamboat from Young Scientist Weekly,” Matt teased. “I guess that’s to be expected. Y’know, omega survival and all that.”

Shiro threw the mirror at him.

Matt slapped his hands, almost catching it, clapped his hands a few more times as it tried to escape before it dropped, safely, on the desk. 

“I have records in the Garrison’s hand-to-hand tournaments. I’m more than able to slap away unwanted hands,” Shiro muttered. “When they aren’t trying to blackmail me.”

“So, the right hands, though- ”

Shiro groaned. “Can we drop it? I needed to get Roy’s scent off me, okay?”

“Good segway,” Matt said, suddenly dropping to his hands and knees, and crawling under his desk. A moment later, a nondescript back emerged. “You still have an emergency bag? Y’know, for times when work goes crazy?”

“In my locker?”

Matt left again, and Shiro blinked. It took about five minutes for him to return. “Come on, asshole, I’m doing you a favor. I’m going to walk you down to the showers and stand guard while you clean up.” He wrinkled his nose. “And change your uniform. Man, Shiro, you have drips all over your shirt.”

~*~*~*~*~

Somehow, this all got back around to Matt wanting to meet Jake.

“I don’t need you to give him a shovel talk,” Shiro yelled from inside the showers. 

Matt, who was standing outside to give him some privacy as he dealt with cleaning himself, yelled back. “Well, maybe someone needs one!”

“Jake didn’t do anything to me I didn’t want! How many times do I have to say that?”

“I can’t go after the assholes who fucked up your meds! He’s closest! He should know who he’s dealing with!”

Shiro looked down at himself. “I wouldn’t underestimate him. He pickpocketed Iverson’s keys off him without anyone the wiser, earlier.” A moment before he had been nearly catatonic. The man was adaptable, if nothing else.

“You’re not reassuring me, Takashi.”

Shiro looked down at his body; the faint shadow bruises on his hips, the small beads of colostrum ( _holy shit_ ) coming from his tits. The sight of the marks Jake had left on him and his body changing left a weird mix of arousal and discomfort. Discomfort because it could destroy the life he had fought for… Arousal because he had never, ever felt like that before. Full and hard and-

He shoved the temperature knob down a few degrees.

“I’ll text him and ask if he would like to have dinner tonight.” Shiro took the detachable shower head and used it to flush himself out. “See if Keith wants to come to. We can talk about whatever the hell we’re doing next.”

“Speaking of next,” and now Matt’s voice was much, much closer to the shower stall door. “I still can’t find anything on your boyfriend.” He went quiet. “Well, I found the bare bones to show he exists. A social security number, a birth certificate from out of state, and that’s it. A really weird cryptocurrency bank account that I can’t hack.”

Shiro popped his head out. “You can’t crack it?” 

“I thought about asking Katie but I’m not ready to get her involved yet.” Shiro almost smiled until he realized that Matt was being completely and utterly serious. “If this guy is shady I don’t want to make her a target.” Matt crooked his lips. “Plus, Katie is reckless enough that once she gets started she’d tank the earth’s economy.”

Shiro ducked back into the shower, and let his forehead rest against the wall. He liked Jake. He had spent lunch just listening to Shiro _talk_ , asking questions when it mattered and otherwise making Shiro feel like he was interesting and- and-

He lifted his head and dropped it against the tiles, hoping the cold and the pain would clear his head. “So we know nothing about him other than that he’s Keith’s dad.” He paused. “How about Ruri Kogane? Anything about her?”

“I hadn’t looked into Keith’s mom yet,” Matt admitted, as Shiro turned off the water and fumbled for a towel. 

“Keith and Jake both said she’s alive. Somewhere.” Shiro reached outside and grabbed a towel, rubbed himself down then wrapped it around his waist. “I mean, not sure how to go about trying to find her.”

“Or what to say when you do,” Matt said as they both headed to the changing room. “Hi. I’m an instructor at the Galaxy Garrison where your son is, and, by the way, I’m kinda screwing your ex. Can you tell me if he’s a bad guy?”

Shiro grimaced. Jake had been, so far, gentle and patient. But that’s what most battered Omegas said, wasn’t it? How many movies had shown so called ‘normal’ Alphas to be brutal sadists? How often on TV was being an Alpha conflated with criminality, with mass violence? Or the beta man being murdered when he discovers that he is being cuckolded by a female-gendered Alpha? ( _How many times were little Omega children shown swollen, pregnant and abused on those same crime shows? Or seducing the virtuous beta man away from his wife?_ He tried not to think about that.) 

“He’s not done anything to hurt me. And Keith is healthy.” That got an odd look from Matt, but he couldn’t deny it. Keith sometimes acted very strangely (to the extent that the Garrison had asked one of the counselors to observe him for signs of autism) but he never behaved as someone who had lacked for love, food, or security. Only his socialization was lacking.

Then again, he _had_ found Jake out in a shack in the middle of nowhere. 

“Think we should ask my dad?” Matt said, after a few moments. “I mean-”

Shiro swallowed hard. Commander Holt had been full of sympathy, but Shiro had left feeling discarded and dirty after their last talk. “I don’t know. He seemed really unhappy when I talked to him, told me basically that I was an idiot for going into heat-” Matt scowled “and I felt. Like he really didn’t understand why I was defending Jake.”

Matt opened his mouth, then shut it again. 

“So. Who do you trust then? And if you say you trust your Alpha, I’d like to remind you, you met him less than a week ago,” he answered after a pause. 

Shiro grimaced. Put his hand over his belly. That was the problem. He wasn’t sure he could trust any of the higher ups. “I’ll let you know when I figure that out.”

~*~*~*~*~

They got hold of Keith, who got hold of Jake, and they were all heading back to Shiro’s apartment with taco supplies.

Arriving back to his place had been almost surreal. It was cleaner than it had been, with his scent mingling with Jake’s. Any sign of their earlier tryst had been erased, and Jake was standing by the stove, chewing on the end of a pencil. 

“Howdy,” he said, about to take the bags from Shiro’s arms, when Keith darted out from behind him, up to Jake and wrapped his arms around his waist. And tried to lift.

“What in the tarnation are you doing, son?” 

“Supplex,” Keith grunted, trying to lift Jake again. “Lance and Hunk were talking about this move they saw on… tee-bee… and showed it to me.”

Shiro and Matt looked at each other as a smile spread of Jake’s face. 

“No, kid, _this_ is how you supplex,” he answered, sweeping an arm back and, somehow, flipping Keith up and over his shoulder. This maneuver was pulled _without_ knocking over Shiro’s microwave or toaster oven. He didn’t finish the move, though, and kept Keith balanced there for a moment while he squirmed and laughed. 

“Daaaaaaaad!”

“Pardon my little heathen here,” Jake said, but the smile on his face was bright, laughter coloring his voice. “He ain’t learned his manners yet. He still thinks he’s ten.”

“Dad! Not in front of my teachers!”

“Who decided to supplex his old man?” Jake replied, effortlessly (but gently) tossing Keith onto one of Shiro’s seat cushions. Keith flipped mid-air to land on his tail, before bouncing back to his feet and immediately diving forward, this time hitting Jake from behind and wrapping his arms around Jake’s neck in a lock. “I missed you, too,” Jake wheezed, sighed, and let himself drop to his knees, then backwards, causing Keith to squeak as the air was forced from his lungs.

Matt was already cackling, while Shiro was staring at their display and covering his mouth to keep from laughing as well. It reminded him of a pair of male cats he had as a child- the younger kitten continuously pouncing the older, who took it in stride, letting the younger bounce off his thick, shaggy pelt and pinning him when he got too rough.

“Dad,” Keith said for a final time, grunting. “Off, uncle, whatever! Get off me!”

“You gonna behave, son?” There was an amused irony in his voice. “Cause it ain’t exactly _done_ to wrestle in front of new people.”

Keith’s eyes widened, before he sighed, contrite. “I… okay.” His eyes flicked up to Shiro and Matt as Jake got up and helped Keith. “Sorry, Shiro.”

“Ain’t your fault.” He ruffled Keith’s hair, before giving Shiro and Matt a smile. “It’s mine. I shoulda reminded you we don’t play rough.” He pressed his forehead to Keith’s. “This hoodlum here was raised as much by a rowdy pack of uncles as much as me. And trust me, we see’em again, I’m gonna be the one getting tossed.”

“They sound delightful,” Matt said drily. “I’d love to invite them to my wedding.” 

Keith’s face was a surprised blank, but Jake snorted and shook his head. “They’d give most people a case of the vapors. But they’re good sorts.” He pressed a kiss to Keith’s hair, and Keith leaned against him as Jake put an arm around his shoulder, trusting and happy and relaxed in a way Shiro had never seen. “I miss’em, too.”

“So, Keith’s mom is out of the picture?” Matt asked, putting his grocery bags on Shiro’s table. 

“Hm.” Jake’s face twisted a bit, and Keith sighed. “It’s complicated. She’s still pops into our lives, on occasion, and we don’t hate each other.” Keith scowled, now. 

“She decided Dad was smothering her,” Keith announced. Like it was something he had wanted to say for a long time.

“And it wasn’t unfair. I was.”

Keith scowled harder. 

“Keith,” Jake said, and squeezed his shoulder. “She wasn’t wrong. It took me years to agree to you coming out here.” 

Keith looked down. Sighed. “Let’s just eat, okay?”

And there was so much from that little interaction that Shiro was just beginning to parse it. Jake and Keith were close. Keith acted much more relaxed around his Dad, and he had uncles who liked horseplay. Jake was protective of his son. 

“You said you could make tacos?”

Jake nodded, giving Keith one more head ruffle before heading to the food. “What y’all gonna do?” he asked, even as he laid out the groceries and found a large frying pan. Jake enjoyed cooking, Shiro noticed. Like his mom, he showed affection as much through seeing his family well-fed as with words or touch.

“I can chop-” Shiro offered, before Matt protested and dragged him away. 

“No, no no. No. Do not let this man near food,” Matt protested. “And hi, I’m Matt, I’m a friend of Shiro’s and I wanted to see if you were good enough.”

And how Shiro is trying not to die, because yeah-

“I ain’t,” Jake answered, just as casually. “I’m a beat up, run down old huntin’ dog. There’s not much worth to me.” 

Shiro frowned at Matt. “I told you, no shovel talk.”

“I haven’t threatened to kill him. Just using my advanced intellect to judge if he’s qualified,” Matt replied. “He says he’s not. End of story.”

“No, because it means _you_ get to pick for me. Jake, am I _too good_ for you?” he retorted. “Are you both implying I can’t make up my own mind?”

Jake paused. “No.” He looked down, before grabbing the ground beef and spices. “Keith, you up for chopping?”

Shiro huffed, as Keith went to wash his hands, but let himself get pulled into setting the table. 

He was aware that Jake was good at directing attention away from himself, from his past. It was almost funny, watching Matt attempt to grill Jake.

“So, where are you from?” Matt asked, as Jake cooked.

“All over. M’Mama was military, so we got transferred a lot.”

“How do you make money?”

“Oh, odd jobs. Construction, mostly.”

“If your ex-wife pops up sometimes, got an idea where she might be?”

By then the food was on the table, and all of them were sitting, leaned against the bolsters. Shiro had brought out some of his shochu for himself and Jake; Matt was driving himself and Keith back to the Garrison. 

What Matt hadn’t expected was for Keith to let out an angry hiss. “With her new family, probably.”

Matt, who had asked, then taken a big bite of his taco, almost choked.

Jake just sighed and threw his arm over Keith’s shoulder, watching him wilt. “Yeah, that’s where she probably is.”

Shiro frowned. Opened his mouth. Jake put up a hand. “Can we move on from my ex?” He squeezed Keith, who was picking at his food. “Ru ain’t really any of your business besides knowing I ain’t killed her. Or whatever other horseshit you think I might’ve done.”

Matt finally stopped coughing. “You’re pretty smart.”

Jake tilted his head to the side. “For an Alpha? Thanks. Now, are you content that I ain’t got it out for the lot of you?”

Matt sighed. “You haven’t given any of us a straight answer.”

“No, because most of it ain’t your business. What _should_ be your damn business is figuring out who sent Shiro into my den,” Jake growled, and Shiro’s jaw dropped as Jake put down some bubble packs of his suppressant pills on the table from his pocket. “I went back to your old pharmacy. It wasn’t too hard for me to get your pills.” He tapped the table a few times. “Long story short? My sense of taste is good enough that when I compared the pills you were taking with the others, all I got was sugar. I can’t find any differences in the packaging.”

Shiro picked them up and frowned, looking back and forth, then handed them to Matt, who took a long look. “That’s… really sensitive. Superhumanly so.”

Jake grunted. “Reason I spice my food myself instead of using a mix. Also half the reason I like hot sauce. Burns out the extra.” He pointed to the bottle of tabasco that had shown up out of nowhere, and Shiro had seen him use it at lunch. “Hot sauce, smokes, I’d start playing music real loud if I wasn’t always listening for you, Shiro.” He gave him a lopsided smile.

Shiro’s throat tried to close as his chest tightened. “You should have said something.”

Jake shrugged one shoulder. “I didn’t want to worry you.”

Shiro looked down at his plate. He knew he had been letting Matt do most of the talking, but largely it was because he wanted to take the time to watch. Keith had settled on the other side of Jake- Shiro had sat down beside him, with Matt across the table- and had flopped against him like it was nothing.

Shiro swallowed down jealousy. The gesture spoke of comfort and trust, which was something he wanted right then. 

“So it wasn’t an accident?” Shiro asked. “Not an error from the manufacturer?” It seemed less and less likely, but there was still a chance.

“Well, _I_ can check out that part,” Matt added. “I’ll get into your medical records and poke around. Or better yet, I’ll have Katie do it.”

“Katie?” Jake said, mildly. 

“That girl who hangs around the Garrison, sometimes,” Keith muttered sleepily. “She’s smart.”

Katie had been hanging around? That was news to him. From the look on Matt’s face, he was also just now hearing about it.

“My sister has been hanging around?”

Keith yawned, reminding Shiro of that same kitten again, even as Jake stroked his hair. “She smells like you, so yeah. Hunk started letting her help with his building projects. She’s good at programming, and he can make the engines work.”

Matt’s eyes went wide. “I think… um… That terrifies me more than it should.” He cleared his throat.

“I thought you didn’t want to bring her into anything yet?” Shiro answered, reaching over to refill Jake’s drink. He smiled and returned the favor. “She would tank the Earth’s economy?”

And now Jake guffawed. “Sounds like an impressive kid.” He pet Keith again, and this time the sound he made was, unmistakably, a purr. “You made friends with her?”

Keith squirmed and sighed. “She’s pretty fun. She and Hunk are smart, but they aren’t stuck up about it.”

“Your other friends?” and here, Jake sounded calm, but Keith rolled his eyes. 

“Lance explains humans pretty well, and he knows more than you do about the new stuff,” Keith replied, and Shiro paused, his glass against his lips. It wasn’t the first time that Keith’s words had done that. Sounded like he was outside, looking in.

“Well, it’s good to make a pack.” He ruffled Keith’s hair again. “Humans are pack animals. We need each other, and it’s okay to like them.”

Keith sighed again, and this one was pure, fifteen-year-old angst. 

“I don’t speak kid anymore, Keith.” He squeezed Keith’s shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

Now Keith glanced over at Shiro and Matt. “I didn’t think coming to the Garrison would cause either of you trouble,” he said quietly. “But they used me as an excuse to hurt Shiro. I must have done something wrong.”

Jake’s eyes went wide, almost panicked, and Shiro and Matt both started to protest. 

“You’re a great student-”

“Hey, if Katie likes you-”

“Son, you love flying-”

Keith straightened, and shook his head. “Dad. They knew you’re an Alpha because of the admissions form, and that we had to use- that the reason you can’t live in town is because of it. They couldn’t have known about your being out there otherwise.”

“I don’t think they were after _me_ , son.” He hugged Keith again, who kept his eyes trained on the table. “But I don’t know why they would be after _Shiro_ , either.”

And that was the problem. “So. We’re pretty sure this wasn’t some accident?” Shiro asked, leaning back against his bolster. “That this,” and he gestured down to his belly and to the others around him “wasn’t just because of a packaging error?”

“Not just the packing is identical. So are the numbers stamped on the pills,” Matt added, frowning at the two bubble packs. 

“So. Where do we go from here?” Shiro said quietly. “If this was planned, then why? Why do this to me?”

Matt frowned. “There’s no one else who is half as good as you are when it comes to piloting-”

Except that Jake coughed and pointed at Keith. “Give ‘im a few years. He’ll be better.”

“Right now,” Matt said, and Shiro had to acknowledge it was probably true. ~~And their future children would be even-~~ “But we still need someone training _right now_ for the Cerberus mission. Shiro, you keep saying how disposable you are… well. Not as much as you think. You are still the best for the job. Hands down.”

“But Focker, and the other cadets who attempted-”

“He never had a real chance,” Matt answered. “He’s a great pilot, but he’s still an Alpha. No offense. An Alpha in a small pressurized metal box? You think that would be a good idea?”

Shiro frowned, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Keith dig his elbow into Jake’s side before tossing a small grin at him. Jake rolled his eyes. “If he’s medicated and trained, he might got a chance,” Jake said. “But if the other guys don’t know how to submit proper, he’ll get his panties in a twist right quick.”

Now Matt winced. “You could beat him up. That’ll teach him his place,” Jake went on. “Alphas aren’t meant to be in charge. Sure, there are exceptions. But overall we’re wired to scare off predators and protect our pack from outsiders. But we need to figure out our place in the pack hierarchy real quick or- and that’s not helping here.” He frowned. “Focker’s pretty easy to handle. Though that’s going to take a lot of hitting.” He pursed his lips and looked at Shiro. “If you’re up for a fight, you can get him to stop challenging you. But it takes time, a couple of scraps, or something else to make ‘im stop being an ass.”

Shiro was aware of Matt’s slack jawed expression. He must have looked the same. Keith, on the other hand, had palmed his face. “Dad. You realize you’re talking about hurting him. I thought you said that humans didn’t like that.”

“I said _betas_ didn’t like it. Alphas are built for it.” Jake leaned back and shrugged. “We’re tougher for a reason. I can’t say for sure what’s going on in his head. He’s a person. But usually a good fight will let an Alpha know where he stands, and that’s important. That dumbass cliche about Alphas seeing others as something good only to fuck, fight, or piss on ain’t all true, but it's close enough for government work.”

Shiro frowned, and took a long, slow breath. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“So, how do you see us? Fight, fuck, or piss on?” Matt asked, taking a sip of his drink.

Jake groaned. “God. You’re in the ‘Shiro brought you home and you look kinda scrawny so I’ll feed you’ category, which is a subset of the piss-on. Shiro’s gone into the ‘mate’ box, which means I follow his lead and his pack is mine. I’ll treat you as subordinate, because you’re scrawny and young and you ain’t done shit to earn my respect yet. There. That enough Alpha armchair psychology for you?”

“Plenty.” Matt leaned back. “All right.” He put his chin on his fist. “Okay. I’ll leave you alone for now. I don't think you plan on immediate murder, or that you somehow plotted to get Shiro in your clutches.”

“I appreciate the vote of confidence. I would have planned to continue my non-murder habit regardless.”

“Besides, if Dad wanted to kill you, he would have done it already,” Keith said. “A good man doesn't hesitate.”

“Kolivan tell you that?” Jake said, but he sounded strangled, even as his far turned red… And to Shiro’s surprise, he let out a snort of laughter.

Keith looked startled, then nodded. That was when he must have noticed the horrified looks on Shiro and Matt’s faces.

“He’s right, but son, we really gotta work on what comes out of your mouth.” He had his face covered. 

“And what does that mean, exactly?” Shiro said, even as Matt started edging away. 

“A good man won't stop and gloat. A good man won't draw out another’s pain. Pray that the one who comes to kill you is evil, because he’ll take the time to enjoy the suffering he’s caused,” Keith said, like he was reciting something important. “A good one will finish you off quickly.” He shrugged. “Dad wouldn't play with you. If he was going to kill you he would have just done it.”

“And I think this is my cue to go.” Matt stood up, pushing his empty plate away. Keith looked back and forth between him and Jake. 

“You need to take me back to the Garrison.”

“Okay, get your coat, murder boy.” He tilted his head. “Before I am in a car with you alone, answer me this.You qualify as good?”

Keith looked down and then back at his Dad, who mimed cuffing him. Keith gave him a small smile. “I want to be like my Dad, so. Yeah.”

Shiro felt a little uneasy as Matt left, watching Keith and Jake share a hug. Both of them looked sad that Keith was leaving; they hadn't seen each other in awhile. But leave they did.

He lifted an eyebrow. “So, did I pass?”

Shiro snorted. “You were doing fine. I’m kind of afraid of Keith going on a rampage.”

“That kid’s uncles are… something else, really. Kolivan’s been a great grandpa, the others doted on him, but they had no idea what to do with a kid. But they loved him, and Keith was never lonely. I owe ‘em for that. But don’t worry. He’s got some growing to do, but he’s not gonna hurt anyone if they don’t punch first.” Jake’s face lit in a smile, and Shiro felt his stomach lurch at the sight. He looked… so much _younger_ when he smiled. It was the same weird feeling that had kept him in Jake’s shack when his heat had hit; the same feeling that said he wouldn’t mind a nest, so much. That being touched, having someone to come home to, wouldn’t be the worst thing in the universe. Seeing Jake play with their own children would be...

Hormones. It was the hormones talking again. It made him sick; his body changing, his mind refusing to stay committed to the course he had put his entire adult life into. Just because Jake’s Alpha-self had _been there_ , like a steak for a starving man. 

On top of that, Jake had put up with this shit, too. Shiro had had no idea what happened to Alphas without their blockers.

“You smell worried.”

Shiro looked to see Jake beside him, shoulders brushing. 

“You don't gotta say nothing if you don't wanna.”

Shiro didn't speak for a few moments. “I didn't know being in a city would be trouble for you.”

“It's not yet. I've probably got a four, five days more before it gets bad.” He started cracking his knuckles. “After that I'm more likely to zone out or maybe berserk. After two weeks around so many people I start getting paranoid and my blood pressure jacks up. The other stress hormones start fucking with my immune system and brain after that.”

Shiro leaned into him. “I didn't realize that was what happened to unmedicated Alphas.”

“Hm. Honestly, the hormone blockers were one of the best things to happen to us,” he answered, scratching the back of his head. “I mean, sure, there are advantages to be off them. But can that outweigh not having talked to any human but Keith for six months? Not really. Puts a cramp on my love life, too.”

“Ah. You’re welcome?”

Jake nudged Shiro’s shoulder with his and chuckled. “That’s why I got hands, Shiro.”

Shiro looked away and cut his eyes back. “Why aren’t you using them now then?”

Jake’s eyebrows went up before he drew Shiro into his arms and lap, and leaned him back against his chest. 

Shiro felt tension he didn’t realize he had release. 

“That better?”

Shiro nodded. He could hear Jake’s heart, while they were this close. It was slow and steady. He smelled like smoke, Shiro’s soap and shampoo and detergent, and an odd, wild scent that Shiro couldn’t place. “Keith?”

“Mhmm. Suppressants must be completely gone from your system now.” His hands started kneading on Shiro’s neck. “Feeling okay?”

“Better.” He tilted his head back into Jake’s shoulder. “I like it when you hold me.”

He heart Jake’s heart stutter, getting faster. “You just had to ask.”

“Somehow, I never thought you would leave,” he said, feeling his muscles turn to water. “But, I mean… You never asked for any of this.”

“I didn’t ask for a lot of things.” He sounded rueful, but amused. “But…” He trailed off. “I didn’t mean to imply you can’t choose who you stay with. Or who you want to be with. I just got some skeletons in my closet. And _that_ is why I think you could do better.”

“You could tell me about them.” He could feel tension in Jake’s limbs as soon as he said it.

“I really can’t.” His heart was speeding up. “You deserve to know. That’s true.” He put his hand over Shiro’s face, like he wanted to cover his eyes, then let them drop. “But it’s… complicated. Got a lot to do with my ex, who is… also… complicated. And me, who ain’t complicated, just.” He took a long, shuddering breath. “Old.”

“You’re not that old.”

“Says the guy who is what, twenty?”

“Twenty-three,” Shiro protested. 

Jake hummed. “I can be honest and tell you I can’t talk about it. I can promise you, though, that I had _nothing_ to do with them sending you out to me. I don’t go around beating or raping Omegas,” and now his heart was starting to race, and his hands to go still. “I would _never_ hurt Keith-”

“I know you wouldn’t hurt Keith,” Shiro answered, making him fall silent. “And I know you wouldn’t hurt me.” He sighed. “I just want to know what’s going on.”

“I’ll help you find out what made the Garrison decide to do this to you,” Jake replied. He moved his hands down Shiro’s shoulders, before Shiro felt his mouth brush some of the love bites on his neck. Shiro found one of his hands and threaded their fingers together. 

“Okay.” He brought Jake’s hand to his lips and kissed it. “You did everything right. You asked me to leave. You stayed away from people. Keith’s a good kid.” He exhaled. “Being an Omega doesn’t mean all I want is kids and sex. Being an Alpha doesn’t make you some sort of slobbering beast-thing.” 

“Hmm.” He could hear Jake’s heart slowing, feel his muscles uncoil. “Thank you for saying that. I appreciate it.” He kissed Shiro’s temple. “Your friend ain’t the first person to make assumptions about me.” 

Shiro twisted to look at him, and lifted an eyebrow. Jake had been more shaken up by Matt coming over and asking questions than he had thought.

“How about… anything you don’t want to answer, say ‘red light’ and I’ll skip it,” he offered, reaching for their glasses of shochu, and putting Jake’s in his hand. “Is that okay?”

Jake’s lips pinched. “Okay. I’ll answer as best I can.”

Shiro took a sip of his shochu, feeling burn down his throat. “What’s your favorite color?”

The other man blinked several times. “Really? You’re startin’ there?”

“I’m starting there. I want to know you. So… what is it?”

“My favorite color?” He put his drink to his lips, making a long gulp (and Shiro was not staring at the sight of his throat muscles working, no) before putting it down. “Pretty fond of purples and reds, I guess. You?”

Shiro leaned back against him. Jake’s heart was back to its steady, slow pace. His rough fingers were brushing strands of hair off of Shiro’s forehead. “Black.” 

Everything he had known about Alphas said that he shouldn’t trust Jake. 

Everything about Jake said otherwise. And he knew which side he was going with. 

“Next question: Keith’s first word…”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning for mention of abortion. Buckle up, this one is self-indulgent at times.

Shiro, Jake noticed, almost got that jab in his face. The man was fast, flexible, and given that they had been sparring for the past twenty minutes without a break, had pretty good stamina. 

“Why-” _huff_ “Can’t I hit you?” Shiro gasped as Jake danced out of the way. “You’re-” _jab, jab, cross-_ “you’re not even trying offense!”

Two days later, and they were on the roof of Shiro’s apartment building after a morning run, and Jake was putting Shiro through his paces. “You’re good,” Jake replied. He was sweating from the heat, but not from the exertion. Shiro was starting to slow down from the pace. “And I wanted to see what you were up for.”

Shiro bared his teeth, finally catching Jake in a leg sweep, knocking him on his back, then bringing his leg straight up to strike with his heel. “I’m not weak, Jake,” he retorted, as the tall Alpha rolled and sprang to his feet before the blow could land.

“I know you ain’t,” he replied. “But I’m not exactly a pushover myself.” He put out an open palm, slapping Shiro’s chest and knocking him down. He didn’t think he had done more than wind him. He hoped. 

“The hell?” Shiro wheezed, staring up at him with wide eyes. 

Jake shrugged and offered his hand. “I been in a few scraps. On top of that, I’m a cheatin’ bastard. Your left hook is kinda slow.”

Shiro took his hand, and Jake lifted him. “Shit.” He fell into a squat, breathing hard. “Can’t land a hit on you, then what hope do I have if I have to fight Roy?”

“Pretty damn good, if not completely one-sided in yer favor,” Jake said, kneeling in front of Shiro. “Again, I ain’t medicated, I’ve got years of experience in fights that-” he stopped. Looked away. “I’ve done my share of Alpha fights. And other fights. You’re good. I doubt that fixed cur is any better.”

Shiro’s eyebrows went up, mouthing the words. “That’s English?”

“A male dog that’s been snipped.” Jake scratched the back of his head as they both rose, grabbing towels to wipe off the sweat. “Seemed appropriate.”

Shiro shook his head, before poking his side. “You’re insinuating that he’s impotent?”

“Side effect of the blockers.” Jake looked sheepish. “Depends on what he takes. They got a lot of the same side effects as suppressants.” He shrugged. “Lower libido, sperm count, sometimes can’t get it up, depression, mood swings, what-have-you. Did you ever get hot and bothered while you were taking your pills?”

Shiro frowned and shook his head. Jake didn’t know if he had realized it yet, but Shiro had pressed up against his side, hooking his fingers in the belt loops of Jake’s (borrowed) shorts. They were almost the same height, so slinging his arm over Shiro’s shoulders when they both were standing seemed right out, but he was just the right size and distance to cup his tight, muscled ass-

Shiro’s eyes widened, and blushed. Jake kept the touch light; they were working on boundaries, still. Shiro didn’t move away, though. Instead he pressed against Jake and let his fingers dip under the waistband. “Hm.” He buried his nose in Jake’s neck, before surprising him with his tongue flicking out to lick the sweat. “I knew what the side effects could be.” He somehow found Jake’s scent glands behind his ear and breathed long and deep. “Didn’t bother me too much. Too busy with training.” He pulled back, but Jake could smell Shiro’s arousal. “So this is what it would be like, all the time, without the pills?”

Jake tilted his head towards the door. “Probably not. You’ll get used to it, figure out what you want when you want it.” Shiro was flushing, before taking Jake’s hand and leading him through the door; they were barely inside it before Shiro pushed him into a wall for a kiss. “And you really know how to flatter a man’s ego.”

His free hand joined the other on Shiro’s ass, kneading and squeezing, mouth open and reveling in the smell and taste of Shiro. Like health, and youth, and none of the subtle other that he had gotten used to. He had forgotten how sweet it felt to be with someone like him-

Shiro’s soft groan was in his ears as Jake picked him up, wrapping his legs around his waist; despite how similar they were in build Jake could hold him easily. He nuzzled his tits, kissed them, about to carry him down the stairs… When Shiro’s phone rang. 

The old Star Trek theme played, and Jake let Shiro down, who sighed, reaching for his front pocket. 

The relaxed lechery on Shiro’s face and shoulders turned tense, as his scent went equally flat and gray. Jake drew back as Shiro put the phone to his ear. 

“Shirogane,” he answered, and Jake saw his face go through a myriad of different expressions. Dread, frustration, relief, before answering “Yes, I understand. I’ll be by later to pick it up.”

He slid his thumb across the screen, a half-dozen more emotions flitting across his face even as he kept his eyes on anyone but Jake.

“You can tell me when you’re ready,” Jake told him, listening to Shiro’s heart thunder in his chest, the air hitching in his lungs. “I can wait.” He was lying, of course; impatience was eating him alive, but he could pretend. 

For awhile. 

He hoped that he could wait. But demanding names so he could smack together some heads would be pretty unhelpful when Shiro looked so confused.

“It’s…” Oh thank God he was speaking. “It’s hard to explain.”

Jake’s shoulder blades itched. “You can start at the beginning and talk it out, if you want.”

Shiro put his phone back in his pocket and nodded. “That was the doctor who examined me back when… all this started.” His shoulders hitched as his fingers hovered, just over his navel. “Looks like they got my pills, but he wants me to come in take them there.”

Jake kept his face neutral and nodded. “Okay. That’s fucked up.” There was that odd mix of frustration, disgust and relief on Shiro’s face. “How you feeling about that?”

Shiro muttered something under his breath, and ran his fingers through his hair before meeting Jake’s eyes. “I don’t know. Just. I’m upset, because-” he stopped and looked away. “If you’re right and they did this to me on purpose, I need to get control of my body back.”

Jake nodded along. That was what he expected. 

“But at the same time? What could be?” Shiro mumbled. “And are you really okay with this?”

“I told you. I’ll support whatever decision you make.” This wasn’t something Jake had expected. “You gotta do right by yourself first. Don’t worry about-”

Shiro punched his shoulder. “That’s bullshit. I like you. You were dragged into this mess against _your_ will, too.” His voice turned softer. “Seeing you with Keith… that made it harder, y’know? You are a good dad.” He turned almost inaudible. “And… you’ve no reason to stay once _this_ is ended.”

Jake blinked, licked his lips, before cautiously pulling Shiro close, putting his hands on his hips. “I would not object to being a father again, no.” And the problem was, Shiro wasn’t wrong. Jake _should_ disappear as soon as Shiro ended the pregnancy. _Needed_ to disappear; Shiro deserved a stable partner he could grow old with, or at least be honest with him. Someone other than him. “And without that, things will change between us.” He owed Shiro as much honesty as he could afford, after all. “I can’t say how.”

The sound of Shiro’s heart and breathing stuttered.

“I am not angry, I won’t hate you, and you’re someone worth knowing and caring about. But- I can’t force myself to stay _here_.” He gestured, hoping Shiro would get the impression he meant the city, the Garrison, and not something else. “Not for long.”

Shiro pulled back to meet his eyes. “You’ve said that, after all of this, you might want to make this work. Why the change of heart?”

 _Because my heart is stupid. Because you’re gorgeous and smart and everything I could want and I don’t got nothing to give you. Because you have got_ no idea _who I am._

“It’s…” he grimaced. “I told you. Stuff I can’t really talk about.”

“And if I-” and now Shiro scowled, swallowed, and continued on- “if I decided to go through with it? What would you do then?”

Jake’s eyebrows went up, back flat against the wall. “I -” He hissed through his teeth. “Shiro, wanting _you_ or wanting to give you babies ain’t never been the question. Of course I do.” And god he hated how true that was. “Wanting ain’t the problem. Liking _you_ , getting to know you-” and he shrugged, helplessly. “I’ve had a war with my heart and my head before, and I’ve had to live with the what-ifs and maybes and coulda-woulda-shoulda-beens. I ain’t worth yours.”

“Why do you keep saying that?” And there was a bitter frustration on Shiro’s face. “You keep implying that I’ll regret being with you. But you’ve been- you’ve been good to me. Kind. You talk about space with me. You talk about bonding not being real but also warning me that the longer this goes on the harder it will be to end. That- you want it. Almost as much as me.”

“Shiro.You realize what you’re saying?” he said, trying to keep his voice even. “That you would try and trap me with something you might not want? That’s worth it?” He glanced down to the side. “But if you want to hear me say that yes, I want to stay, I do. But what I want hasn’t really factored in my life in a long time.” He put his hands on Shiro’s shoulders and squeezed. “I can promise all I like, but that don’t mean it can happen.”

Shiro let out a long breath and leaned into Jake’s shoulders. “What I want is for you to still be there after I come back from the Kerberos mission,” he said softly. “I want… this is a bad time _now_. But later…” He swallowed hard and closed his eyes. “Would you want that?”

“Don’t. Please.” His heart, hell, his belly and balls and cock all throbbed in unison at the idea- a dream he couldn’t let himself have. Shiro coming back to him. Kids he could hold. It hurt too much to think about. “Later don’t always happen.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Shiro muttered. “I’m talking about the possibility. If things had a chance to work-”

“Yes.” He spoke without hesitation and could have kicked himself for it. “I’d love to wake up with you, to see where this mess goes, to have you watch my back and- “ he stopped, because he could feel his voice cracking. Did he really want more kids that much? ~~Part of him did. So much.~~ “And see you with my kids. But promises are like pie crusts, right?” He laughed in a burst of hysterical whimsy. “Easy to make, easy to break.”

Concern flashed over Shiro’s face. “Are you okay?”

Jake shrugged. “No urge to hurt anyone.” One of Shiro’s neighbors had spilled his coffee two floors down; he was swearing from the burn. A lady on the street was listening to a podcast about dark matter on her phone, through her headphones. Exhaust and ozone were thick in the air from traffic, but it was dry enough that he wasn’t overwhelmed with the smell of sweat. His clothes were a familiar weight, keeping the sun off his skin. It was distracting, but not overwhelming just yet. If he ran into another Alpha, though, all bets were off. “A few more days before I gotta get some peace and quiet.”

Shiro nodded against Jake’s shoulder. “Come with me to get the pills?” he asked quietly. “I... “

“Don’t even gotta ask, honey.”

~*~*~*~*~

Sam Holt barely remembered Jake Kogane.

He had been a Garrison cadet himself, at the time. Not that the Garrison itself was much back then, barely a science outpost with a school attached for the children of the scientists, staff and military who lived there.

He had been a name on the military rolls, a guard at the gate, a sometimes practical joker who told tall tales of the cryptids out in the hills to mess with the students and scientists alike. Sam and Iverson both had been very young cadets back then, on different tracks, walking with Colleen to the admin building and hearing about an explosion, an accident, and that Jake had been killed in action.

Sam wasn’t old. Not yet. His kids could tease him about his love of delicious vegetables and corny jokes all they liked, but he was still spry enough, thank you. 

But that didn’t stop him from feeling every gray hair or wrinkle on his face as he watched the man that Matt had talked about at dinner, the previous night. Despite everything that happened, Matt still trusted Sam enough to talk about the guy that Shiro had gotten involved with.

The entire plan to get Shiro disqualified for the Kerberos mission had been hastily put together and filled with so many holes and stupid mistakes, illogical thinking and reliance on Omega stereotypes- 

The Kerberos mission had been decades in the planning, but it had, in the last month, suffered a sudden shift in priorities. For the past five years, Galaxy Garrison had been aware of _Something_ out there. A large energy signature that would appear at the very fringe of the heliosphere for roughly an hour, and then disappear again, every few years. The schedule it held was regular, and they had only now been able to identify its origins as artificial. 

A ship. They had found a ship coming to the edges of their solar system and then leaving again. They had no idea how long it had been passing by, they had no idea how long it would continue to, if it was friendly or hostile. And as luck would have it, they were sending a ship out that would nearly coincide with that ship’s brief approach. 

They didn’t want to make first contact. They just wanted to gather information. But they would have to rush their preparations, and in order to get support for the mission, they were having to market it heavily. He, Matt and Shiro were going to be under a media lense like never before.

People still wanted their heros to be betas, their bad guys to be alphas and their victims to be omegas. Even now, after all these years. 

They needed more funding and Shiro, while the best pilot for the job, wasn’t the only one and the time-crunch they were under had them panicking.

Two years wasn’t nearly long enough when it came to getting to the edge of the solar system.

The idea was cruel, stupid, but Shiro was more of a liability than an asset because if word got out? Everything would be delayed. They wouldn’t be able to monitor the visitor when it came by, because there were no other objects they could land on in the vicinity. It might not do any good in the event of an invasion but they needed a fighting chance.

So they had picked the only known unmedicated Alpha they had in their files… and no one had even considered that this might be the same man who had worked as a lowly guard over forty years ago. He barely looked to be in his thirties, let alone sixty-four. Sam had gone digging through his old paper file; he had found out surprisingly little on how he had disappeared. Just that he had been reported dead but no body had been found. 

Now he was standing just outside the Garrison gates, while his son was running towards him, dragging a gaggle of young people his way.

That had almost been as big a shock as discovering Kogane alive. Using Shiro’s young protege against him had felt like a small stroke of genius, at the time; he had a father who had to live out in the wilderness because he was unable to take blockers. Shiro wouldn’t question it, more than willing to help Keith. 

The boy himself had seemed normal, if completely lacking in social skills… until he had stepped into the simulator and proven he had the potential to be the best pilot in his generation. He had also proven to be moody, but given that he was just starting puberty, that had not been considered unusual either. His scores were high in STEM fields, but he couldn’t manage an essay, or navigate his way through history or geography. Getting him to learn Russian and Chinese for work on the space stations and Mars outpost had been almost impossible.

But there was nothing to directly indicate this boy wasn’t fully human. 

Sam frowned, deeply, as the small group walked up to Kogane; Keith had tackled him, pouncing like a hyperactive kitten greeting an older tom. Kogane caught him with aplomb, tossing him at a nearby tree, one of the few on the green. Keith caught a branch and hung there while his friends hooted.

His heart nearly stopped, though, when he realized that one of the youngsters standing there and laughing was Katie. 

She must have snuck in; she was in her favorite dress, jumping up and down even as the tall, skinny boy with her took an elastic off his wrist to finish the braid. 

Another boy, tall and wide, was cringing at the sight, calling for Keith to come down. Keith did, landing lightly and brushing himself off.

“You done showing off?” Sam heard Kogane said, voice edged with humor. Keith turned to him as he ruffled his hair. They were introduced, and Keith was all but bouncing in excitement. More words that Sam couldn’t hear, and they all broke- and Sam realized that Katie must be there during her lunch period from school- to sit around the tree and eat.

Sam didn’t realize how much trouble he had breathing until Katie left, twenty minutes later. Kogane had won Shiro over, somehow, but Katie was his little girl. Fearless as she was, alphas were vicious when they weren’t medicated.

Soon enough the others departed, food eaten, and Kogane gave his son one last hug and goodbye. 

“You can come out now,” he said, still watching Keith run towards the classrooms. “I reckon you don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“No.” He eyed the large man. Odd, that he seemed just as wary of Sam. “Why are you here?”

“My boy wanted me to meet his friends,” he said easily, hands in his pockets. His face tightened. “Shiro’s going to talk that doctor. We agreed I should wait out here. He don’t come out in a few hours, I go in after him.

That was another pause. “I mean, why are you _here_?” Sam asked again, nodding to the school, to the desert, hoping he understood the implication. There weren’t many options for him being there that didn’t come straight from a comic book. 

“Oh. That.” His eyes unfocused, not looking at Sam or the school, but at something only he could see. “Same reason, basically. Wanted my boy to get some learning. Friends his own age. Breathe some real air and play in the dirt.” He absently shrugged one shoulder. “Have some freedom before he’s growed.” He scratched his elbow. “Not much else to it.”

Sam frowned. “There must be more-”

“Sure.” He shrugged again. “But it don’t matter near as much. Though what does matter is how you all decided to fuck up Shiro. He trusted y’all and you did him wrong.” The hairs on the back of Sam’s neck stood up as a soft growl rolled off Kogane. “Why?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The look Kogane tossed him was so full of scorn it should have singed his clothes. “We don’t got enough evidence to take you to the police. And we know the police won’t give two fucks. What I want to know is why you’d take someone with Shiro’s service record and try to-” the growl got louder. “He’s the best you got. Why?”

“I’m grateful that you didn’t hurt Shiro,” Sam said, trying to collect himself. “You are right, he is very good at his job. I’m sure he’ll be an excellent flight instructor.”

This time, Kogane _scowled_. “Whatever the hell is going on, change your mind. He’s the best you got. He’s a great pilot, he loves his job, he’ll do you proud. What the hell could cause you to throw that away?”

Sam hid his groan. What indeed? “He is a great pilot. But we still haven’t sent anyone pregnant into space. It would be detrimental to him and to the baby. He wouldn’t be able to keep up with the training timetable for this particular mission.”

“After today that won’t be a problem,” Kogane said, lifting an eyebrow at Sam’s flummoxed expression. “What, you didn’t think he’d do it? Or did that doc give’im sugar pills again?”

“I had been under the impression that you two had hit it off,” Sam said, feeling lightheaded. 

“We just fucking _met_ ,” Kogane spat. “Goddamn it. You set us up and now you’re upset we’re fixing your shit?” He straightened his back. “What the hell is it going to take for you asshats to let him have what he earned?”

Sam sighed, taking off his classes to wipe them down. “What’s out there, in the dark? You would really let your omega go out there alone?”

From Kogane’s flinch, he knew he had scored a hit. “He’s an adult,” he muttered, sounding a little less certain, and Sam hid his satisfaction. He was an alpha after all. “And he got a great head on his shoulders.” 

“He also has no idea of what’s out there.” Alphas, at their core, were watchdogs. Meant to protect their tribes and mates from predators, even if pop culture focused on the hypersexuality and -masculinity. “It’s dangerous.”

“Yeah.” A shadow passed over his face. “You figuring on findin’ the actual gate to the underworld and a real three-headed dog?”

“I have no idea what we’ll find out there.” That was honest enough. And then a hope. A desperate, ugly hope. It wasn’t just Shiro’s life on the line, but his own and Matt’s as well. “If we knew what we were facing, though, there would be no question of using Shiro as our pilot.”

Another shadow crossed Kogane’s face. “That’s all you want, huh? The secrets of the universe?”

“That’s all a good scientist wants,” Sam said, almost joking, just before Kogane’s phone rang.

He flicked the screen and turned away. “Sorry, gotta take this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should note that this is, a lot of it, me ranting. Plus, this story started out as a smut one-shot, with a very thin plot. I wasn't quite sure how to work my way out of it, so I decided to plant a big ole lampshade on the set up coming from a very prejudiced, bad place on behalf of Iverson and Holt, and working around it. Hope it helps the story make more sense!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning for the implied abortion, but nothing graphic.
> 
> And now that we know who Keith's mom is, you can imagine that Ruri looks about the same as Krolia. Works for me!

Life went on.

A month later, and Shiro could pretend to be normal again.

Shiro was able to find his old doctor; he didn’t trust this old man when it came to getting back on suppressants or future birth control. His previous doctor had recommended an implant in his right arm. It was a more expensive one-time cost, he had to pay out of pocket and he had to look for a separate clinic to handle the insertion, but it meant no pills and less side effects. 

Not to mention that he had vetted the implant to make sure there had been no tampering, this time. He was still… very, very frustrated, with what had happened. 

But work was... normal. If there were more people side-eying him, he pretended not to notice. He and Matt were making final preparations to head out to Mars for a month of training.

“So,” Matt said, out of the blue. “You have a date tonight.”

The words, after quietly working on pulling out files for a good twenty minutes, made Shiro jump, causing his head to crack against the metal desk with enough force to send a shower of papers onto his back and ass. He grabbed his head, muttering in Japanese as he rubbed his scalp and ducked out to glare at Matt.

Matt was sitting there, absolutely unapologetic. “You know people are still watching you.”

“I know.” Shiro could pretend to ignore the whispers. He could pretend that he didn’t hear his name and the voices stop when he walked into a room and start again when he left. The speculation around him had run rampant, everyone trying to guess at his odd behavior. He had _felt_ Roy’s eyes on him, knew he had been contributing to those rumors. “And given that they set the whole thing up, they can’t really complain that I’m still seeing the guy.”

Almost as soon as… he had taken those last pills, he had needed the escape of Jake’s cabin, and it had been a godsend. He had _needed_ the space, not just to heal but to mourn. Jake had left him alone, given him time, quiet, or distracted him when he needed it. Shiro hadn’t expected Keith to show up, either, but his arrival had only been helpful. With Keith there, he hadn’t felt any pressure to interact; Keith and Jake had gone about their lives as a father/son comedy routine that had kept him from dwelling or feeling any particular pressure to act or be a certain way. He could help with chores, he could talk or not talk, and let himself… rest.

They had gone out for a picnic. When he had finally cried, he had found himself in Jake’s lap with Keith plastered to his other side, both fussing and cuddling and it had helped. 

After that, he had gone to visit Jake almost every weekend he could. Giving that up before going to Mars _would_ break his heart. But now-

“How long do you plan to be out there?”

Shiro sighed. “Do you need me to stay? I had planned to be back Sunday evening.” Matt had been his friend first. “Are you okay?”

“Other than you not hanging around since all off this started-” Shiro ducked his head, guiltily, and Matt waved him off “I’m fine. Just wanted to know how long you would be out of the way.”

“You’re going to throw a party in my apartment?” Shiro tilted his head to the side, then shrugged. “I don’t mind so long as you clean up afterwards and restock the food.”

“You don’t keep real food, Shirogane,” Matt said with a smirk. “You just keep jerky, cup ramen, coffee and beer.”

Shiro flipped him off. “I have food now.”

“Yeah. One thing I do have to thank your Alpha for. He makes sure you eat,” Matt said, his voice and face softened. “I know this whole thing has been hell for you, but you look better. Really. Loved up is a good look on you.”

Shiro felt his face heat up. 

“I mean, if I could find someone pretty who would cook for me, I probably would be in the same boat.” He put his hand over his heart. “Go. Get laid.”

Shiro checked the clock, then looked at his big mess of papers, and sighed. 

“I’ll cover. Go!”

Shiro didn’t need any further prodding.

~*~*~*~*~

Matt watched Shiro all but skip out, and rubbed his chin.

He wasn’t lying; he really wanted Shiro out of the way. He really wanted Shiro someplace where he was safe for the time being, and he had come to trust Jake… somewhat. 

Enough that he had a partner in crime, at any rate. 

“He’s gone?” Keith asked, popping his head around the corner. He stood there, eyeing the office even as Matt waved him in. 

“Yup.” He eyed Keith, who was sniffing nervously at the room. “You aren’t thinking of busting out some Alpha soon, are you?”

“What?” Keith looked absolutely non-plussed. “Why would I- I don’t even-” he shook his head. “I don’t think so.” Then he looked uneasy, and looked down at himself. “I’m… not finished growing though, so…” His eyes went huge, almost panicked. “I might. I could.” He swallowed, and naked fear crossed his face. “I need to talk to Dad about it. We had thought I was…” he paused, shivering. “A beta.”

“Might want to,” Matt said, gesturing for Keith to take a seat. “Dad’s going to let me into the sealed records room tomorrow night. So let’s go over the plan again.”

Keith pressed his lips together into a thin line, and nodded.

~*~*~*~*~

Shiro had just finished lacing the rope around Jake’s wrists and arms when he noticed.

Sweating. Pale. Jake’s hands were trembling despite himself. “Give me a color.”

No answer, but the shaking increased. “Jake. Listen to me. Color.”

“...yellow,” he whispered, muscles starting to strain and bulge under the hemp rope. Shiro grabbed at the knots, unthreading them as quickly as he could. 

“I’m getting them off you,” Shiro said, trying to soothe him, but Jake’s chest started to heave. His hands made fists as the rope bit into his flesh. 

“Hurry.”

His pupils had dilated, Shiro realized, and he could see blood dripping from under the ropes. Shiro tried to move faster, but it had taken him a good ten minutes to get as far as he had-

The rope snapped. Once, twice, and it was falling off Jake in pieces as he fell forward, thick red welts and streaks of blood flowing down his naked arms. 

“Shit. Jake, talk to me,” he heard himself babbling, fighting down his own panic as looked down at Jake’s arms and chest. “Talk to me. You’re safe. I’m here.” He hadn’t gotten to see much before- but he had read the signs of a PTSD episode often enough. “You’re here. We’re in your cabin. You’re free.”

A deep growl had proceeded the break. It tapered down to a whine, sweat dripping down Jake’s face. “You’re here, with me.”

“Where-”

“In your cabin.” That didn’t seem to mollify him. “In Arizona. Near the Garrison.” 

“Earth?” Jake asked, wiping at the sweat down his face. It mixed with blood. “Shiro?”

“... yes. It’s me.” That was weirdly general, or too specific. He didn’t know. “It’s me, Shiro. We’re on Earth. Together.”

That seemed to do the trick. Jake slumped forward, hands on the thin rug covering the concrete floor of his shack. “God. I’m sorry.” Shiro got to his feet, going to grab some water and one of his sad little towels. “I swear. I thought I would be okay with that-”

They had started a conversation on some things to try, a week ago, when Shiro had admitted he had felt out of control during the heat. That while he had enjoyed the pleasure, he had hated feeling like a hostage to it.

He had been surprised when Jake had suggested Shiro could take charge any time he wanted to.

Shiro had been the one to suggest the rope bondage. And Jake had, cautiously, with a lot of negotiation ahead of time and agreement to traffic signal check-ins, gone along with it. 

“Sorry,” Jake muttered, still shaking. “That was- I had thought I-” he laughed, forced and weak, probably harsher than he intended. “I hadn’t thought that would happen.”

Shiro sat down beside him, offering him water. “May I touch you?” At his nod, Shiro knelt, sitting on his feet and put a hand on his shoulder. “Can you talk about it?”

Jake crossed his legs and took the towel and water.. “It’s… fuck, Shiro.” He sucked in a long, shuddering breath. “Don’t tell Keith. Kid worries.” This made Shiro frown. “Ru and I… had troubles… before Keith was born.” He could see Jake’s throat working, lips trying to make words. “Long story short, I got ...taken... by some … scientists… with the morals of a scorpion and a few bricks shy.” He looked distant, and Shiro knew there was more to it. Much more. But it was touching on the things Jake had only _hinted_ at and his curiosity was eating him alive. “Ru got me out. Eventually.” He looked down at his wrists, and Shiro took his right hand into Shiro’s left, and they watched as the angry red, bloody welts faded into yellow bruises. “Been so long ago I thought it wouldn’t bother me.” He sat up, pulling his hand back. “I’m sorry, this weekend was for you.” He left it hanging, like wanted to say more, but didn’t.

Shiro leaned over and put a hand on his face. “One, I’m sorry you went through that.” His face was already rough; he had to shave two or three times a day. “Two, I won’t enjoy myself if you aren’t.” He sighed when Jake nuzzled his hand. “Three… is this why you..?” he looked down at Jake’s body. The rope had been sound. Breaking it _had_ torn his skin. The only sign of it now was leftover blood.

“Something like.” Jake shifted his weight away from Shiro… and Shiro frowned, and put his free hand on Jake’s chest. 

“If you aren’t going to talk,” he said, putting every ounce of command into his voice that he could, “You could put your mouth to better use.” He gave Jake a push with both hands- and to his surprise, Jake obeyed, letting himself fall onto his back. “Color?”

“Back to green, honey. What you got in mind?”

Shiro straddled his shoulders, sitting on his chest. “Tap my thigh if you want to stop, okay?” he breathed, and the smile on Jake’s face was warm as Shiro eased his slit against Jake’s mouth. The first stroke of Jake’s tongue made him shudder.

*~*~*~*~*

“Are you _really_ sure you want to know?”

Matt followed his father as they walked down a dark, quiet corridor into the bowels of the Garrison’s archives, listening carefully for the footfalls of his tail.

If he hadn’t caught the odd shadow he wouldn’t have even known Keith was there. The kid had kitten paws for feet. 

“Dad, whatever is going on, _yes_ I want to know,” Matt answered, crossing his arms. “Because, come on, I know there’s got to be more to this shit than what everyone’s telling us.” He frowns. “And because I want to know why the Garrison would do that to someone who has given his life to them already.”

“We don’t want _Shiro’s_ life,” Dad answered, not looking back. He dropped into silence for several moments. “We want Shiro to be safe. He’s brilliant. But he’s also an Omega who shouldn’t be put into the kind of danger we would face. I don’t think he could handle it.”

Matt felt his temples throb. “Dad-”

“He’s capable. More than that. We know Shiro is a tough young Omega.” He stopped in front of a door, and took a deep breath. “I should have told you this, ages ago, when you were chosen for this mission.” The door had a small sensor; as his Dad passed his hand over it, the light changed from red to green as multiple deadbolts unlocked. 

Matt waved a jammer- his own design- to keep them from re-engaging. 

“Told me what?”

“That we had detected an alien object that periodically comes close to Sol every few years.” His Dad’s face was pale. “It sped up and slowed down in a way no natural object would be able to. It was visible to our sensors only for a very brief window, but unmistakably there. The closest KBO to where it appears in the next five years will be Kerberos.”

Matt stopped dead in his tracks, the words slapping his ears. “What? No way. Dad, are you saying-”

“Our objective is to set up a listening post. That’s the real reason for the Kerberos mission,” Dad whispered. “But there is a very narrow window for us getting out there just before that thing arrives.”

“Why the rush?” Matt asked, reeling. “I mean, it’s been here and left. Why not wait until-”

“It’s been coming closer and closer, each time. And next time, Kerberos will be too far away. Our sensors won’t be in range. And… we think it might not be friendly.” 

Matt blinked. Out of the corner of his eye, Keith was flitting into the archive.

“What makes you think they might not be friendly? I mean, if we’ve had no contact-”

Dad’s lips pressed together in a thin line. “We need to know as much as we can about them, and we need to know quickly. There is- this- this _thing_ out in the desert. We have satellite mapping and have sent team after team into the desert to find it… and it vanishes, as soon as someone gets close. We know it’s there- it’s been there for ages, there are countless petroglyphs- but its a virtual Bermuda Triangle out there.”

“You think this dead zone is… summoning aliens,” Matt asked. “Dad, that sounds-”

“I know.” He looked away. “Matt, I would have thought this entire thing was bullshit if we hadn’t actually found an alien almost forty years ago.”

Matt felt his lips draw back. “Dad-”

“I have something to show you.”

~*~*~*~*~

Jake was sitting out in the shaded side of his shack, back to the wall, taking a long draw of his cigarette.

He heard Shiro stirring, getting up off the sofa, stretch, yawn, and amble out the door towards the outside shower. A few days of rain had filled up the reservoir enough, and he had left the shower bag in the sun since sunrise. It was enough to get the sweat and sex stink off, at least.

Jake levered himself up, and by the time Shiro was done, Jake had already poured him a cup of coffee and uncovered the breakfast burrito he had made a while back. 

Shiro’s thank you smile was bright, leaning in for a quick kiss and making a face as he sat down. “You taste like an ashtray.”

“I’ll brush my teeth later.” He patted the pack in his pocket. “Only got about two left.”

Shiro snorted, and looked Jake up and down. “Does nicotine even-”

“If it was injected at about a hundred times this dose, maybe. I drink a bottle of whiskey in one go, I get buzzed. For half an hour.” His smile was lopsided. “Immune system is good, too.” He closed his eyes, and sat down beside Shiro. Letting Shiro see him panic had been embarrassing, but… hell. The cat wasn’t out of the bag, yet, but the kittens were escaping. 

“Huh.” Shiro was eying him, frowning. “That’s… a lot to happen. Was this before or after you had been in the military?”

“After.” Jake would have been disappointed if Shiro hadn’t kept asking- the man was smart. He could see the wheels turning in Shiro’s head. 

“So this happened before Keith was born, but after you met Ruri.”

Jake shrugged, and then squinted, off into the distance. He could feel Shiro’s eyes on his face.

“You,” and he glanced over to see a Shiro’s frown. “Had a very busy year or so.”

“I reckon so.” 

Shiro’s jaw worked, eyes darting back and forth as he put things together. “You heal very quickly. You have a strong immune system.” His back stiffened, lips pressed together. “You’re… a lot older than you’re pretending to be, aren’t you? Jake.” 

Jake swallowed, opened his mouth- 

And that was when Shiro’s phone started ringing.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The plan was needlessly convoluted, in Keith’s opinion. But then again, Matt hadn’t been part of a clandestine organization of spies trying to end a murderous intragalatic regime for centuries, either.

They had cobbled it together in the car on the way back to the dorms at the Garrison; a way for them to find out why Shiro had been targeted and to get enough evidence to bring in the authorities. 

Matt would work his father, to get him to bring him on on whatever conspiracy they might be. He could build a device to let Keith sneak in and search for clues.

Keith _had_ been learning tact. He kept his suggestion that they simply kidnap and interrogate Sam Holt to himself. He knew that would have been a poor choice anyways, because he liked Matt, and Keith didn’t really want to leave Earth just yet.

And this way, he could actually complete his _own_ mission- to find out what the Garrison knew about the Blue Lion.

As he skittered through the security cordon behind Matt, though, he _really_ missed his Marmora armor. It was comfortable, obscured his form from sensors, and didn’t attract attention like one of those weird… orange… cone things on the street. But it meant that if he _was_ caught, he could feign ignorance of being curious and in the wrong place.

He ducked, dodged, even rolled a few times, trying to stay just out of sight as Matt methodically disabled security, and Keith kept his eyes peeled for a terminal to start hacking. He wasn’t anywhere near Regris or Matt’s or Katie’s skill with computers, but this was Earth and so-

-so 

Oh.

The darkened corridor lead to a dark, empty basement beneath HQ… and a fighter.

A Galra fighter.

His _Mom’s_ fighter.

Keith licked his lips as he stared at it, ducked behind a bank of computer servers that were hooked up to the fighter and listened to Sam Holt describe what had happened, almost forty deca-phoebs ago. 

Keith took a deep breath as he looked at it. It had the coordinates for the Blue Lion inside.

He was the only person on Earth who could get the information out of that fighter. And now was the best opportunity. 

Letting that breath go, he cocked his head back and forth, listening for Matt and his father still prattling on about how they had found the spacecraft and rescued the pilot-

Keith fought the urge to scowl. _Rescue_ was just another word for _capture_. And his Dad had done the rescuing, anyways.

He had a Marmora data chip layered over his right thumb; he put it on the fighter’s dash and placed his palm on the activation switch. There was just enough power inside the crashed vessel for him to activate the navigation.

That was when he heard a sharp crack and a cry, and Matt Holt was looking down at him from where he had climbed into the fighter as well… and was staring at where Keith was downloading the information.

“The _hell_ kid?” he gasped. “Dad said they hadn’t been able to get this stuff to activate since it landed-”

Keith shook his head. “No time. What did you do?”

“I saw the ship power up. I knocked Dad out with a taser- what the fuck?” he hissed, staring at the lights on the dash as Keith removed the data chip and put it back on his thumb. “How-”

“Matt, I need you to trust me. I’ll keep looking for information on what they did to Shiro, but this is more important,” he said, and he could see the thoughts running behind Matt’s eyes. 

“You don’t have time. I’m pretty sure what Dad told me was true enough. I mean. We’ll try for more later. But you _have_ to get out of here. Now. The security system is already starting to reboot.”

Keith nodded, and leapt out of the fighter, taking off running towards the cordon. Already he could hear the power coming back. He dived through one door, through a scanner, dodged a lone guard-

He made it out. 

The sun shone on his shoulders as he kept running, only stopping when he had gotten nearly to the parking lot. He panted, breathless, exhausted, smiling.

Knowledge or death. 

He looked down at thumb and the data chip. He had completed his mission. 

His legs trembled as the adrenaline rush waned and exhaustion hit; he had completed his first mission and they could get the Blue Lion out of there. Earth would be safe.

He sighed, walking across the green. He had a meeting with Hunk for tutoring in engineering later. They were going to meet Lance for dinner in the mess hall. He could call his Dad. 

Keith didn’t see the blond head walk around the corner. And he certainly didn’t see the fist crash into his face until he was flat on his back, looking up at the large Alpha staring down at him.

To be continued.

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't happy with the ending almost as soon as I posted this so I did a quick edit.


End file.
